Slow 4506?

[gary.hostetler]

I have my brand new Dell servers-1950s plugged side by side directly into the 48 port ethernet switch on the 4506. I used RacoonWorks speed test to copy a 440 MB file from one server to another. It was about 1/3 the speed of true 1 gigabit connection. Is this normal?

thanks

Gary

[glen.grant]

Check to see how dell server nics are setup for speed and duplex , the switch must match how the server nics are setup . Look for any interface errors on the 4506 .

[gary.hostetler]

The nics are set for auto. I see an error for Smartports not setup. I do not know how to set that up yet. Where else should I find the errors?

thanks

gary

[Adam Frederick]

Look on the actual switch interface the server is connected to, say if its connected to port 3, issue a "show interface gigabit 1/0/3" and look for errors. Also issue a "show interface status" and ensure the port the server is connected to has negotiated correctly be it 100/Full or 1000/Full. If you see 100/Half that probably explains your issues.

[Josef Oduwo · Accepted solution]

>The nics are set for auto. I see an error for Smartports not setup. I do not know how to set that up yet.

Gary, we have deployed several of these and this is a classic issue. As Glen mentioned, the hosts must match the switch port configuration. The best, of course if full duplex max speeds so:

Right click on the LAN connection > Properties > Click Configure (next to the NIC hardware name) > 'Advanced' > Property > Media Type then change the value from 'Auto-Sense' to 1000Mbps full duplex...

Where else should I find the errors?

Another common symptom is getting "path too deep" errors even when or are working with the root of a drive.

thanks

gary

Good luck,

-Josef

PS - Please rate/resolve the reply...

[gary.hostetler]

I will be testing all this out over the weekend but I will be out of town for part of it. I will let you know what I find and I will rate your post. I had previously gone in and changed the ports of both servers to 1000 full duplex on the 4506 and changed it on the servers as well but I'm still at 1/3 gigabit speed.

thanks

Gary

[kofflerg]

48-port cards on a 45xx are 8:1 oversubscribed; each group of 8 consecutive ports (I think) share 1 gigabit ASIC. Therefore, if you're transferring from one host to another and both are on the same ASIC, you're already limited to 50% of linerate. Have you tried moving the links to different ports so that they're not in the same group?

[gary.hostetler]

I have not tried migrating the ports. One is on 24 and the other 20. My bigger issue is that this is an all gig building from desktops to laptops to servers. I had the same 1/3 speed problem from a laptop that has a gig card in one of the remote areas down to the 4506. I hope this doesn't mean I don't really have a gig network. My purchase of the 4506 was supposed to handle the overhead that is associated with an all gig network.

thanks

Gary

[gary.hostetler]

On the server I have a Speed and Duplex setting but it does not include a 1000 MB setting. It does have auto 100MB full, 100MB half, 10 and so forth but not 1000.

Also my show status shows me on the 4506 that the server port is at 1000 Full.

Gary

[glen.grant]

When you look at the ports with the "show interface status " command what does it say for the server port speed . So does the server nic only support 100 meg max ??? If it is 100/full max then that would account for your speeds that are less than you think they should be .

[relsethagen]

I would bet that what you have is more likely a limitation of the servers than it is the Network. try your speed test with a crossover cable between servers. This will at least give you a base line for what is posssible

[gary.hostetler]

All is well. I updated the Broadcom drivers and dumped using the Racoon Speedworks test and just timed it by hand. A 440 MB file took around 4 seconds. That would put it close to the max of 125 MB per second on a gigabit connection (correct me if my math is wrong). Thanks to all for your suggestions I learned a lot about this switch in the process. Tomorrow I will be testing from a remote computer to see what speeds I get from the other parts of the building. This is a new building and no one is using the network yet.

Gary