Full Speed Local File Transfers from PC to PC Over Ethernet

[Awakening]

I'm going to have a server build with five HDDs in RAID 0 (backed up to cloud in case of failure). I'll use the build mostly for streaming to other computers in the house, but I do want to connect my main desktop to it via Ethernet so that I can get faster file transfers to and from the server. As far as I've been able to tell, it can't really be done via USB 3 which would offer more than enough speed. Because of that, I was thinking more along the lines of maybe three ethernet cables for theoretically 375 MB/s transfer speeds which I'd be more than happy with. Any advice on how to do that or if it'd even work would be great.

 

Here's the hardware:

 

Desktop Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Extreme7+

Server Motherboard: TYAN S7012 (looks like it might not support 1Gb LAN)

 

I plan on getting a Dual LAN 10/100/1000 add-on PCIe card for the desktop PC with three of the then four total available LAN ports on that PC for data transfer only and then the fourth for internet access from the router. Do I need two of these for the server motherboard as well or am I wrong and it does support 1Gb speeds?

 

Thanks and let me know if there's a better or cheaper way to accomplish what I'm trying to do.

[KuJoe]

Having 3 1Gbps ports will not give you 3Gbps of bandwidth for a single connection. You'll be able to support 3 1Gbps connections unless you do something like port bonding on a managed switch that supports LACP. Additionally 3Gbps is equal to about 330MBps in the real world.

[knightslugger]

agreed. If your switch doesn't support LACP, then you are boned.

[Awakening]

3 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

Having 3 1Gbps ports will not give you 3Gbps of bandwidth for a single concurrent connection. You'll be able to support 3 1Gbps connections unless you do something like port bonding on a managed switch that supports LACP. Additionally 3Gbps is equal to about 330MBps in the real world.

 

 

 

Then how would I go about doing that?

 

2 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

agreed. If your switch doesn't support LACP, then you are boned.

Is there a better way that doesn't require the use of LAN? 

[Oshino Shinobu]

5 minutes ago, Awakening said:

Then how would I go about doing that?

 

Is there a better way that doesn't require the use of LAN? 

You need to purchase a switch that supports a Link aggregation protocol, such as LACP. You also need to make sure the clients connected to the switch support the same protocol if you want 3Gbps to one device. 

 

LAN is just local area network. You're going to need to have it connected to the local network. Servers are designed to be used on the network. 

[KuJoe]

6 minutes ago, Awakening said:

Then how would I go about doing that?

You'll need to go buy a switch that supports LACP. I personally use an old Dell PowerConnect 5324 at home with aftermarket fans because the fans that come with it are extremely loud. They go for like $30-$40 shipped on eBay and they support LACP along with having a backplane that supports 48Gbps (which means it can actually handle each port pushing 1Gbps without slowing down, most consumer switches have multiple 1Gbps ports but the backplane cannot handle all of them pushing 100% at the same time).

 

Also make sure your OS supports LACP (802.3ad) or else it won't matter.

[KuJoe]

I just noticed you only mentioned a desktop and server in your original post @Awakening, in that case just go full 10Gbps if it's between 2 devices. Linus did a video on this a while back where he get 10Gbps setup between two devices for less than $100.

[Awakening]

3 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

You'll need to go buy a switch that supports LACP. I personally use an old Dell PowerConnect 5324 at home with aftermarket fans because the fans that come with it are extremely loud. They go for like $30-$40 shipped on eBay and they support LACP along with having a backplane that supports 48Gbps (which means it can actually handle each port pushing 1Gbps without slowing down, most consumer switches have multiple 1Gbps ports but the backplane cannot handle all of them pushing 100% at the same time).

 

Also make sure your OS supports LACP (802.3ad) or else it won't matter.

 

Nice. I was just looking around on NewEgg and the cheapest I saw was $64. I don't mind buying used parts for my server so that definitely looks like a solid option.

 

How easy was it to replace the fans and what size were they? 

[Awakening]

3 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

I just noticed you only mentioned a desktop and server in your original post @Awakening, in that case just go full 10Gbps if it's between 2 devices. Linus did a video on this a while back where he get 10Gbps setup between two devices for less than $100.

 

 

 

 

Link? That speed sounds awesome and less than $100 isn't bad.

 

And yeah, just between my desktop and the server. Everything else accessing it will be wireless and doesn't need the extra speed.

[KuJoe]

Just now, Awakening said:

Nice. I was just looking around on NewEgg and the cheapest I saw was $64. I don't mind buying used parts for my server so that definitely looks like a solid option.

 

How easy was it to replace the fans and what size were they? 

The fans were really simple to replace, it was a lot of screws though. These were the fans I bought here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/171157910368

 

They are just as expensive as the switch is, but it was worth it not being able to hear the switch from the other side of the house with the door closed.

[KuJoe]

2 minutes ago, Awakening said:

Link? That speed sounds awesome and less than $100 isn't bad.

 

And yeah, just between my desktop and the server. Everything else accessing it will be wireless and doesn't need the extra speed.

I think this is it (I'm on VM right now so sound is disabled): 

 

 

[Awakening]

4 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

The fans were really simple to replace, it was a lot of screws though. These were the fans I bought here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/171157910368

 

They are just as expensive as the switch is, but it was worth it not being able to hear the switch from the other side of the house with the door closed.

 

 

Any idea what size they are? Can't find it specified and those fans are overpriced so I'd for sure want to get something after-market.

 

The look like 80mm fans, but I could be wrong.

[KuJoe]

Just now, Awakening said:

Any idea what size they are? Can't find it specified and those fans are overpriced so I'd for sure want to get something after-market.

Not exactly sure, I bought those fans because it's the same manufacturer as the fans that are in the switch already and some people complained about other fans requiring extensions to get the wires to reach.

[Awakening]

Just now, KuJoe said:

Not exactly sure, I bought those fans because it's the same manufacturer as the fans that are in the switch already and some people complained about other fans requiring extensions to get the wires to reach.

 

Looks like it might actually be 40mm. Those are some tiny fans..

[Awakening]

35 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

I think this is it (I'm on VM right now so sound is disabled): 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it. I seriously appreciate that video because that's exactly what I was looking to do.

[Awakening]

1GB/s transfer rate for $54.55..

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/131634470127

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/381521770605

 

[knightslugger]

1 hour ago, Awakening said:

1GB/s transfer rate for $54.55..

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/131634470127

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/381521770605

 

It's not going to make a pinch of difference if your DRIVES can't handle the speed.

[Awakening]

16 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

It's not going to make a pinch of difference if your DRIVES can't handle the speed.

I should be getting at least 400-600MB/s sequential with five hard drives in RAID 0 so having a total possible bandwidth of 1GB/s isn't really going to waste, especially for what it costs. I can't see there being any way I can get those kind of needed transfer rates from PC to PC for a cheaper price and having that much bandwidth will allow me to add pretty much anything I want to either system without hitting a bottleneck in transfer rates.

 

And then even if I do hit the 1GB/s threshold with SATA SSDs in RAID or with PCIe-based drives, 1GB/s is still more than acceptable.

 

If you have a better idea, feel free to make a suggestion.

[knightslugger]

1 minute ago, Awakening said:

I should be getting at least 400-600MB/s with five hard drives in RAID 0 so having a total possible bandwidth of 1GB/s isn't really going to waste. I can't see there being any way I can get those kind of transfer rates from PC to PC for a cheaper price.

Generally speaking, after two drives you're at the point of diminishing returns. i would be shocked if you get more than 250 MB/s.

[Awakening]

6 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

Generally speaking, after two drives you're at the point of diminishing returns. i would be shocked if you get more than 250 MB/s.

 

 

I know and that speed you listed is most likely what two HDDs in RAID 0 would get because using two drives makes the sequential very nearly double and then it kind of tails off at 1/3 of the previous improvement per drive leaving almost no improvement at all with the sixth drive and on.

 

I expect around 400MB/s sequential which I'd actually be able to take advantage of considering most of the files I'd be moving to the server would be 700+MB files.

 

That's just speculation though because I can't really seem to find any multi-HDD RAID 0 performance results..

[Awakening]

11 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

Generally speaking, after two drives you're at the point of diminishing returns. i would be shocked if you get more than 250 MB/s.

 

 

It actually looks like my 400-600MB/s minimum was definitely right.

 

And keep in mind that's only three drives, not five. I may very well get upwards of 600MB/s sequential.

 

[knightslugger]

I will hold my thoughts for later. i don't believe synthetic benchmarking should be used to gauge the performance of what you intend to do with it. Consistent straight sequential r/w are not normal, especially with a shared server.

[Awakening]

1 hour ago, knightslugger said:

I will hold my thoughts for later. i don't believe synthetic benchmarking should be used to gauge the performance of what you intend to do with it. Consistent straight sequential r/w are not normal, especially with a shared server.

 

 

 

 

Actually, sequential will be very relevant in what I'd use it for. The server is mostly for TV shows and Movies via Plex and even the shorter TV show episodes (~25m) only drop down to as low as ~250MB with the average size of a TV show episode being more around 900MB and movies near 2GB. If I'm not mistaken, sequential starts kicking in around ~100MB.