[Samba] Client link utilization

Bostjan Skufca bostjan at a2o.si
Mon Feb 8 12:53:11 MST 2010


Ok, a quick questions for everyone:

Can you max a 100Mbps ethernet connection to SMBD server using
smbclient or mount.cifs?

What transfer speeds can you reach? 8MB/s, 10MB/s, 11,5MB/s?

Thanks everybody,
b.

PS: Because if you can and I can't, that means only I have a client
side problem.



On 7 February 2010 19:53, Bostjan Skufca <bostjan at a2o.si> wrote:
> My case is slightly different. Only 2 combinations are interesting
> when compared:
> 1. WinXXX client ---> smbd    (max)
> 2. smbclient        ---> smbd    (1/3)
>
> The first combo maxes the wire with only 1 client connected, in any
> direction (GET/PUT).
> The second, however, seems to work at 1/3 of wire speed. Direction
> again does not matter.
> (talking about large files and sustained transfer rates here).
>
> In the second combination the network stack 'seems' ok because FTP,
> HTTP and SCP transfers do max out the wire. It also makes no
> difference if I use smbclient from command line or mount.cifs
> variation, always 1/3 of line capacity.
>
> I have just checked if this is still the case with latest samba
> version. I used Samba 3.4.5 compiled from source (source3 directory)
> on both client and server. The issue still persist.
>
> Thanks for taking interest!
> b.
>
>
>
> On 7 February 2010 10:40, Stan Hoeppner <stan at hardwarefreak.com> wrote:
>> Jeremy Allison put forth on 2/6/2010 11:07 PM:
>>> On Sat, Feb 06, 2010 at 09:26:32PM -0600, Stan Hoeppner wrote:
>>>> Bostjan Skufca put forth on 2/6/2010 6:14 PM:
>>>>> Hello everybody!
>>>>>
>>>>> This is probably going to be a classic question but I cannot find a
>>>>> decent answer on net.
>>>>>
>>>>> I have samba server set up and the following things work flawlessly:
>>>>> - iperf shows 92% link utilization
>>>>> - FTP/SCP/HTTP transfers work in 10MB/s range.
>>>>>
>>>>> However, when I mount samba share with linux client (mount.cifs) the
>>>>> link utilization cannot bypass cca 33%. Transfer speeds constantly
>>>>> stops around 3.8MB/s and will not rise above it no matter what socket
>>>>> and locking options I use.
>>>>>
>>>>> Do you have any ideas about why this is happening and/or FAQ websites
>>>>> to point me to?
>>>>
>>>> I've had a similar thread running for a few weeks without resolution.  In my
>>>> case I can max the wire (100FDX) at 92Mb/s to/from Win2K and WinXP clients using
>>>> FTP, and smbclient from the server to shares on the workstations maxes the wire
>>>> (at least GET from the workstations does).  I'm running Samba 3.2.5 on Debian
>>>> Lenny with custom kernel 2.6.31.1.
>>>>
>>>> The max smb performance I can get in a single stream to/from smbd is 65Mb/s, or
>>>> 8.5MB/s.  I've now tested Win2K, WinXP, and smbclient on SLED 10 (can't recall
>>>> version).  In all cases, no matter what performance settings I tweak in smb.conf
>>>> or on the workstations, I can't get wire speed with a single SMB stream---can't
>>>> get over 65Mb/s.
>>>>
>>>> Interestingly, two simultaneous SMB transfer streams (two Windows Explorer file
>>>> copy operations on the same workstation) will max the wire at 92Mb/s, or 11MB/s.
>>>
>>> Hang on a minute, I haven't been paying attention to these emails
>>> as yet.
>>
>>
>> Thanks for jumping in Jeremy.
>>
>>> Am I correct in saying:
>>
>> Partially.  Before I forget, let me state I'm only speaking for my case, not the
>> other OP with a similar issue, whose thread this is.
>>
>>> smbclient -> smbd maxes the wire.
>>
>> This is not correct.  SLED 10's smbclient (2006'ish, not sure of version) gets
>> 2/3 wire speed to/from the smbd server, Debian Lenny Samba 3.2.5.  In this case,
>> it's seeing exactly the same single stream performance as the Windows clients.
>>
>>> smbclient -> WinXP maxes the wire.
>>
>> Yes, smbclient 3.2.5 on the Debian Lenny smbd server can GET from WinXP and
>> Win2K at wire speed, however, PUT ops are half wire speed, 6MB/s.  I haven't
>> attempted to troubleshoot this half speed issue yet.
>>
>>> But WinXP -> smbd gets 2/3 of the wire speed.
>>
>> Correct.  Win2K and WinXP both achieve 2/3 wire speed to/from smbd.
>>
>>> And WinXP+WinXP (two streams) -> smbd maxes the wire.
>>
>> Correct, but mostly tested from a Win2K machine, not XP.  Just to be clear, this
>> is two streams from one Windows host.  Two concurrent file copy ops from two
>> shares on the smbd server, and this maxes the wire every time.
>>
>>> If this is the case, it's the 64k per read/write
>>> limit plus only one outstanding packet per stream
>>> issue with the WinXP redirector that's the issue.
>>
>> Hmm.  If this is the case, why do the Win hosts nearly max the wire talking smb
>> to one another, at ~10.5MB/s, and max the wire serving files to smbclient on the
>> Linux server host?
>>
>>> smbclient sends up to maxmux outstanding packets
>>> on read/write and keeps the pipeline full. That's
>>> why it can max the wire.
>>
>> Well, smbclient 3.2.5 maxes the wire GETing from the Windows hots' shares, but
>> only hits 1/2 wire speed on PUT ops to the Windows shares.  SLED 10 smbclient
>> only reaches 2/3 wire speed <-> smbd on the Debian Samba server, although I
>> didn't test SLED 10 smbclient against the Windows hosts.
>>
>>> The WinXP redirector is just not very good I'm
>>> afraid.
>>
>> That may be true.  But I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that XP is one of two
>> machines I have which can actually serve single stream smb at wire speed.  The
>> other, sadly, is Win2K.  Both can serve smb to smbclient running on the Debian
>> smbd server at wire speed, and just a shade under wire speed to one another.
>>
>> The only piece of smb software I have in my normal environment that hasn't
>> demonstrated single stream wire speed capability is, sadly, smbd.
>>
>> Thanks for taking interest Jeremy.  Hopefully you can point me in the right
>> direction so I can figure this out.  It's probably something simple or stupid,
>> but hidden or obscure.  I'm running a custom kernel, so I guess it's possible I
>> screwed something up in my kernel config.  I've got netfilter in the kernel but
>> no current iptables rules configured.  I just don't know where to look next.
>>
>> --
>> Stan
>> --
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>


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