Thecus N2100 2.1.01.4 Beta firmware - RAID0 or JBOD?
September 11th, 2006 by ktula
Now that i have pretty much narrowed down the disk configuration choices for my N2100 between RAID0 and JBOD, i want to compare the AFP/SMB file transfer rate using my gigabit LAN instead of a crossover patch cable. Testing it on a gigabit LAN also allows me to compare the performance with the IP-sharing option enabled.
Test configuration:
- Powerbook G4 17″ 1 GHz 1 GB RAM running Mac OS X 10.4.7
- Network: 1000 Mbps LAN (path from Powerbook to N2100 involves two Netgear 1000 Mbps switches)
- Thecus N2100 configuration: 2 400-GB Seagate Barracuda SATA 3.0 Gbps, with stripe size of 128 Kbytes for JBOD and RAID0
Thecus N2100 firmware 2.1.04.1 RAID0 vs JBOD (PDF)
The file transfer rates for RAID0 and JBOD are almost identical.
Thecus N2100 firmware 2.1.04.1 Share IP vs non Share IP (PDF)
Having the IP-sharing option enabled actually causes the performance to be degraded quite severely. The average write transfer rate (i take the average of the degradation percentage) goes down by 18% while the average read transfer rate takes a nose dive, degrading by 45%. Another odd behavior of enabling the IP-sharing option is that the write transfer rates are better than the read transfer rates.
Because of the lack of documentation, i am not exactly sure what the IP-sharing option does. My guess is that this is some form of etherchannel, which is probably not supported by my Netgear gigabit switches. During my tests, i connected both gigabit ethernet ports to my Netgear gigabit switch and i was able to verify that they were both running at gigabit rate.
One thing i found out during the tests is to verify that the ethernet port on the N2100 is running at 1000 Mbps instead of 100 Mbps. Even though all my switches are capable of running at 1000 Mbps, during a serie of tests, i realized that the file transfer rates had dropped quite significantly. It was then i determined that the N2100 was only running at 100 Mbps. Next to each ethernet port at the back of the N2100 are two LEDs. If the right LED shows orange, then it is running at 1000 Mbps. If it’s green, it’s only doing 100 Mbps.
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Leyton
Says
Thanks for doing all the tests that I don’t have time to do myself!
I was already running JBOD due to the poor read-write of the old firmware, there is no way RAID could improve the speed. As you pointed out the CPU seems to be the limiting factor and is probably why IP sharing doesn’t help - too much overhead. I would think they have added this option purely because it is something they made for their new higher-end models and being the nice people they are Thecus have continued to develop the 2100.
The sleep function looks good - and I am happy to see it works with your Seagates, I thought they had troubles with sleep modes. I have 2 of the 500GBs (both with firmware 3.AA as well) so that is a good sign!
If you are providing them with feedback on the firmware - 2 suggestions:
A better login page (something that has labels, and no need for flash which requires the “click here to activate” :S)
An itunes option that is compatible with sleep mode. I want my version updated but I don’t want itunes to keep it from sleeping. The option should be something like “scan when idle”, “scan before sleeping” or “scan on wake”. The scan on wake would be the best except it might adversely affect the initial file transfer. A scan when idle that does not reset the sleep time would avoid this.
Sep 13th, 2006 at 03:25
spiken
Says
Very interesting, thanks for all !
Sep 16th, 2006 at 00:37
Leyton
Says
From your posts on the user group looks like they have introduced something to help with the itunes scan (1 day interval). The fan control also looks good
Go Thecus!
Sep 16th, 2006 at 22:16
Leyton
Says
have they fixed the main webpage login on the new beta though? (no flash)
Sep 16th, 2006 at 22:16