copying files over smb or nfs unusually slow
 

I've noticed that on multiple machines over various networking hardware that copying files from one machine to another, whether using Samba or NFS, peaks at around 1 MB a second. From previous observations it should have peaked at around 9-10 MB a second on 10/100 hardware.

In the first scenario the copying was taking place to/from Windows XP and Ubuntu 7.04 machines using Samba over a 10/100 switch. In the second scenario it was Ubuntu 7.04 and Debian Etch machines using Samba over a 10/100 switch. In the third scenario it was two Xubuntu 7.04 machines using NFS over a 10/100 hub.

The CPUs and HDDs on all of the machines are barely being touched as the copying progresses. All machines have static IPs with the hosts defined. In scenario one and two the copying was using Windows Explorer and Nautilus to browse to the network shares. In scenario three the copying was using Thunar and the shares were mounted in fstab using lines like:

lycaeum:/media/60 /media/60_on_lycaeum nfs rw,suid 0 0

Anyone have any ideas what could be causing this? I really want to think it's the switch and the hub, but I find that difficult to accept. I so don't want to have to set up two Winblows test boxes or buy another switch. Thanks all.

I am having a similar problem. I achieve around 2MB/s. I am using Samba with security = share (for convenience).

If you try a local HTTP transfer what speeds do you get? I get about 10MB/s which is reasonable for a 100/10 local connection.

But I'd like samba to transfer at similar rates.

I'd first suspect the cables or the switch; it can even be specific ports on a switch which are flakey. Generally, I find that the transfer rates on 100mbit are around 10MB/s for nfs, and around 5MB/s for samba (I use security=share, but I don't think it makes any difference).

But it's strange to only get 2MB/s for samba but 10MB/s for HTTP. 1MB/s is definitely too slow.

Though it flashed by in an instant when booting it looks like my NIC was enabled at 10 Mbps rather than 100. If this is the problem then it is strange that it is doing the same thing in so many different places, but it would explain the 1 MBps transfer rates. Anyone know how I can check to see what my NIC's connecting at, and how to force it to connect at 100 Mbps?