[Samba] ftp 8x faster than samba

[Robert Adkins]

Yoink wrote:
> I've seen this problem mentioned many times in the various FAQs and 
> How-Tos on the Internet, but none of the solutions presented therein 
> have worked for me.
>
> SNIP
>
> This gigabit connection should always be performing as it does under 
> ftp, any advice?
>

    I copied a 600MB file from my workstation to our Samba server and it 
took approximately two minutes.

    I copied the same file from the Samba server to my workstation using 
the Command prompt and it took roughly 1 minute 30 seconds.

    This was done with the Samba server acting as a Primary Domain 
Controller and with the workstation joined to the Domain. I just 
performed the above unscientific test about ten minutes ago.

    I had also performed this test when I initially switched us off of a 
Windows server and onto the Linux server about 4 years ago and the Samba 
server provided file sharing significantly faster then our previous 
Windows server had.

    From my rather limited understanding, it simply won't be possible to 
get Samba to provide the same speed as FTP, due to the serious 
difference between the layers of software that are in between FTP 
serving files and Samba serving files. For instance, FTP provides no 
real security beyond the clear text password, while Windows Filesharing 
and Samba does.

    A better and far more accurate test would be to time the transfer of 
files from a Windows Server to a Windows Workstation, via Windows 
Filesharing and then from the Linux Samba server to the Windows 
workstation with all other variables being the same. Testing like things 
is far superior to testing unlike things.

    I believe that if you were to setup a FTP server on a Windows server 
and then copy a file off that server, it would also be significantly 
faster then using Windows filesharing. I could be wrong, as fine tuning 
networking speeds and testing servers isn't part of my job.

    Regards,
    Robert Adkins