You may notice that ReadyNAS may seem a bit slow on writes using the default configuration. There is a way to increase that write performance significantly.
First, you will need a Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) with a USB connection. It doesn't have to be a large one, just big enough to protect the data in case of the power failure. A 250VA unit will be more than adaquate. Plug the ReadyNAS in to the power plug in on the UPS, making sure you plug in to the protected outlet. Next you need to connect the USB connection from the UPS to USB connector on ReadyNAS. Now turn it on.
Once the UPS is connected, ReadyNAS will automatically turn on the Write Cache option on drives. For further increase of writes, turn off the full journaling option. You can do that by clicking on the System button. If you don't see the System button, make sure you click on the Advanced Control button first. Then click on the Performance tab on the top. Then check the second option, Disable full data journalling for RAID 5 volumes, and click apply.
You should now see a large improvement on write performance of ReadyNAS.
If powerfails and you've enabled writecache, data in the disk writecache can be lost if not written out to the disk platters. Chance is slim, but there's a risk that you can lose up to 32MB of unwritten data if you have 4 disks with 8MB writecache each.
If powerfails and you disable journaling, upon boot, NAS will need to run a full filesystem check, which depending on volume size and usage, can be several minutes to hours.
If I use the ReadyNAS 1000 in a datacenter environment (where all AC power is on a UPS), do I have to have a UPS with a USB connection in order to get write-caching to work?
I have a ReadyNas X6 on order, what is the expected sustained write performance improvement in turning on write cacheing ? 1 /5 /10 Mbps ?
Or is this feature only available on the ReadyNas 600?
I would like to understand the improvment to see if the increase can justify buying a UPS to enable the functionality (more kit to upset the misses 😞 ).
I would like to use the X6 to be the location that my Media Centre PC uses to record TV to - that way it can easily be accessed from other PC's, the throughput of that needs to exceed 4 Mbps sustained.
I have a ReadyNas X6 on order, what is the expected sustained write performance improvement in turning on write cacheing ? 1 /5 /10 Mbps ?
Or is this feature only available on the ReadyNas 600?
I would like to understand the improvment to see if the increase can justify buying a UPS to enable the functionality (more kit to upset the misses 😞 ).
I would like to use the X6 to be the location that my Media Centre PC uses to record TV to - that way it can easily be accessed from other PC's, the throughput of that needs to exceed 4 Mbps sustained.
Kind regards
CBM
Sustained sequential write performance for X6 is about 11-12 MB/sec (megabytes per second) without jumbo frames. With jumbo frames, it can bump up to about 16-17 MB/sec depending on your switch and PC. With the X6, it's highly recommended to run with the write cache enabled. Your performance will suffer a lot if disabled, so do get a UPS. They're actually pretty cheap these days...
I'm only getting about 4.5 MB/sec write speed out of my new X6. I've got a ups with usb port attached, write cache enabled, and I'm using gigabit network cards with a Netgear 5 port Gigabit Ethernet Switch model GS605. Read speeds appear to be satisfactory, but my write speeds are terribly low. What would you suggest?
I'm only getting about 4.5 MB/sec write speed out of my new X6. I've got a ups with usb port attached, write cache enabled, and I'm using gigabit network cards with a Netgear 5 port Gigabit Ethernet Switch model GS605. Read speeds appear to be satisfactory, but my write speeds are terribly low. What would you suggest?
Try disabling the journal. But we do recommend you have a UPS to avoid lengthy filesystem check after powerfail.
Not using a cross over cable. Using the included patch cable from X6 to ethernet switch, straight through cables from switch to computers.
New Write results:
Write IOps: 29.746077
MBps: 7.436519
Transactions Per Second: 29.746077
Avg Response Time: 33.61286
Read Results:
Read IOps: 106.476407
MBps: 26.619102
Transactions per Second: 106.476407
Avg. Response Time: 9.3866678
I can get considerably faster speeds between my computer and a drive mapped from another computer on the network. The NAS continues to be very slow in the write department.
JR - Yoh-dah was indicating you should take the switch out of the equation and connect the desktop *directly* to the readynas using a single gigabit ethernet cable.
Anyone got any fresh ideas? Still pretty poor write speeds from our new X6 even directly connected to a single PC. At this point, I'm wondering if I should box it up and ship it back??
Shall I conclude I have a defective unit then? I've got write caching enabled, directly connected and the computer senses a gigabit network connection. Still the same lousy write speeds. Does anyone else use an X6 and get decent write speed?
Shall I conclude I have a defective unit then? I've got write caching enabled, directly connected and the computer senses a gigabit network connection. Still the same lousy write speeds. Does anyone else use an X6 and get decent write speed?
Please wait for the next beta update. There will be a separate performance option to boost the write speed. ETA hopefully by tomorrow as we're working out some last kinks.
