[OT-ish] nfs v. samba

[Todd Slater]

On 10/30/05, Robbo <ml at the-view.eclipse.co.uk> wrote:
> On Fri, 2005-10-28 at 09:25 -0400, Todd Slater wrote:
> > I've been trying to come up with a system to share files in my home
> > network consisting of a desktop computer and a laptop, using a
> > wireless router. Both are Breezy, but I sometimes boot my laptop to
> > WindowsXP, but don't plan on needing to access files on my Breezy box
> > from XP.
> >
> > I recently set up NFS to share files linux to linux. After mounting
> > the shared directory I tried transferring some files; the transfer was
> > incredibly slow. A folder of jpegs about 5.5 MB took well over 4
> > minutes. I say this is incredibly slow because when I ran Mandrake
> > (RIP) with samba, I could transfer a 700 MB file in like 6 minutes or
> > something (Windows and linux).
> >
> > I've also tried scp/sftp, which is slower and seems kind of silly for
> > what I'm after anyway.
> >
> > I googled a little and found a few threads about NFS being slower that
> > samba, but mine seems *really* slow. I'd consider running samba
> > instead of NFS, but for Breezy-Breezy that seems kind of silly, too. I
> > found reference to OpenAFS, but I'm afraid it might be a bit over my
> > head.
> >
> > Soooo, might I have a problem with the way NFS is set up that would
> > explain the slowness? Any recommendations for sharing files on my
> > network?
>
> First we should see if it's not a network issue by checking if your are
> getting the max bandwidth you should be getting.
>
> Install iperf on both boxes (you may need to enable the extra
> repositories is you haven't already).
>
> Run on one box "iperf -s" and on the other box "iperf -c 192.168.1.1
> -d" (change the ip address to the one of the other box), and then do it
> the other way round so you run "iperf -s" on the box that you did "iperf
> -c ...." on.
>
> The results should be near (about 90%) your network speed (unless your
> using wireless which I'm taking it your not if you can transfer a 700Mb
> file in 6mins!).  If they are way down post us your results...

Actually, I'm running wireless now, but I wasn't expecting such a
performance hit! I'm getting between 3.10 and 3.43 Mbits/sec. This is
over a D-Link DI-624 wireless router and a laptop with a 802.11b card.

Todd