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Forum Discussion
10GBE with OS6 on ReadyNAS
Has anyone looked at the lspci or similar output of an OS6 ReadyNAS with 10Gbe hardrware to see what chip set it uses? I know they use the Intel X5x0 series in the OS4 and ReadyData rack-mount units and they work great under OS6, but don't know about the native OS6 units. I'm asking because I'm wondering if the OS will support any 2.5Gbe card (in my RD5200 and RN4200 converted to OS6, which have PCIe slots). The X5x0 family doesn't support 2.5Gbe, I don't need 10Gbe, and I'm not sure my existing wiring will support it, so I'm hoping to just need a 2.5Gbe switch, not one with 10Gbe ports for the NAS.
Also, just how much will 2.5Gbe speed up my access, assuming I put a card in both my PC and NAS and have appropriate hardware in between? The NAS have hard drives, not SSDs, but a pretty powerful CPU and lots of RAM, so the drives are going to be the limiting factor once the network no longer is (another reason to stick with 2.5Gbe).
The cards are not that expensive and I might just try one if nobody can give me an answer. I'm assuming the OS won't even recognize the card it it's not got the right driver, so I won't actually need a 2.5Gbe switch for the test. But I'd rather know if I'm likely to have success before I try.
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Sandshark wrote:Also, just how much will 2.5Gbe speed up my access, assuming I put a card in both my PC and NAS and have appropriate hardware in between? The NAS have hard drives, not SSDs, but a pretty powerful CPU and lots of RAM, so the drives are going to be the limiting factor once the network no longer is (another reason to stick with 2.5Gbe).
Even with 2.5 Gbe you might well end up limited by the network.
This reviewer measured sustained file transfers in the 5-6 gpbs range on an RN526x using a 10 gpbs NIC. Small file tramsfers averaged around 2.5 gbps
He doesn't say what drives he was using - they were whatever Netgear supplied. But they would have been mechanical, and not SSD.
The smallnetbuilder review measured 688 MB/s read and 372 MB/s sequential transfer speeds in their RN626x review
StephenB wrote:Even with 2.5 Gbe you might well end up limited by the network.
Then definitely worth doing if I can. I can live with pushing the limit by 2.5x. But adding a driver to the ReadyNAS kernel just isn't something I could have done even before Debian Jessie was archived, and I fear that Jessie and OS6 pre-date the emergence of 2.5/5Gbe as common and there are no drivers available, much less already present. But maybe Netgear used a chip set that can do 2.5Gbe and maybe even backported a driver.
My RD5200 does have a 10Gbe SFP+ card installed and, just for grins, I tried an SFP+ to RJ45 transceiver with "hidden" 2.5Gbe capability, and it flat didn't work. It would do 1 and 10, but not 2.5 or 5. But I really expected that since it's Intel X520 based and I was hoping for a miracle.
So, still hoping somebody can tell me what chip set Netgear used.
Certainly no MutiGig support on the smaller OS6 ReadyNAS Desktop system out of the box -> What Ethernet speeds are compatible with my RN524X, RN526X, RN528X, RN626X or RN628X?
The RN716X does come with an Intel X540-T2 adapter - so the matching support does certainly exist. Unlikely they deployed something ways off this adapter on the other X models.
schumaku wrote:
Certainly no MutiGig support on the smaller OS6 ReadyNAS Desktop system out of the box -> What Ethernet speeds are compatible with my RN524X, RN526X, RN528X, RN626X or RN628X?
Yeah. They do support 10 gigabit, but can't negotiate MultiGig.
The PCI device id is 0x15ad, which I think translates to Ethernet Connection X552/X557-AT 10GBASE-T
OK, so I decided I didn't need 10GBE on my backup NAS and re-configured my network as follows:
Router to 1GbE switch (for all other items on my network)->
2.5/10GbE switch (2 10Gb SFP+ and 4 2.5GbE RJ-45) ->
PCs with 2.5GbE NIC card &
2.5GbE switch at NAS rack (via 2.5GbE RJ-45 and 30 meters of CAT7, but likely to change to 10GbE optical) ->
Main NAS via 10GbE SFP+ via twinax cabling &
Backup NAS via 2.5GbE RJ-45 (knowing they'll only connect at 1GbE) &
1GbE switch for rest of rack.
I'm essentially saturating the 2.5GbE on reads but not quite reaching 2GbE on writes from PC to NAS. I can live with that. It's a big upgrade from 1GbE both ways. But with the switches I got, I still have the option of going to a 10GbE NIC on my main PC if I upgrade the connection between the 10/2.5GbE switches to 10GbE optical). The backup speed stays at 1GbE, but it happens at night and I really don't care how long it takes. If I ever have to do a large data restore, I may change my thinking. I think the 2GbE speed on writes is likely due to the NAS using RAID6. It's a converted ReadyData 5200, so a bit old, which may have something to do with it.
But my reason for posting this is that I ran into an oddity that Googling gave me some clues on, but I ultimately just figured out with help from the NAS "Performance" display. Initially, I was getting 2GbE for writes but limited to 1GbE on reads. It turns out that was because I left a 1GbE connection from NAS to the rack 1GbE switch (as fallback in case my re-configuration to 10GbE failed) and hadn't reset everything. The NAS display showed the writes over the 2GbE connection but writes over the 1GbE. I disconnected the 1GbE, did a full reset of all devices in the link from PC to NAS, and then re-connected the 1GbE, and all was as it should be. I may not have had to disconnect the 1GbE before I did the reset, but I did so and tested with and without the 1GbE re-connected. But I'll likely disconnect that 1GbE permanently now that I know all is working via the 10GbE. This was all likely due to something still being set in one of the routers for the MAC address translation to the IP address, as I kept the same IP address for the NAS 10GbE as the old 1GbE and switched the 1GbE to a different one so I didn't have to re-configure my drive mappings, NAS backups, etc.
Maybe my experience will help somebody else who's scratching their head after upgrading their intranet to 2.5 or 10GbE or is thinking of doing so.
BTW, the 2.5/10GbE switches I used are generic Chinese ones from Amazon. I just picked one that currently had a discount, as there are 4 or 5 brands that look identical. Same with the 2.5GbE NIC cards. Time will tell how long they last, but they are working great now. The Cat7 cable I used is also generic from Amazon, flat so I can run it under the carpet instead of having to go into the attic. My previous Cat6 had become damaged (latch broke off and I have no tool for putting new connectors on flat cable), so I just replaced it with CAT7. The old Cat6 likely would have worked fine at 2.5GbE, but it was a PITA to keep plugged in and I made the change as just a part of the upgrade. If I go to optical, I likely will go to the attic because of the bend radius restriction and that the CAT7 runs under the carpet at two doors (not just at the edge of the wall like everywhere else) and stepping on optical cable isn't good for it, even with the padding of the carpet. But I'll have to get somebody younger to make that run -- I don't go past the attic opening at my age.
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