Help with NAS setup

[Shaf]

I have an HP Media Vault NAS and need some guidance on setup and access.

Here is an overview of my home network set-up.

I have Rogers High speed internet and a WRT54G Wireless router (with DD-WRT) which is located on the main floor. I have a D-Link Gigabit switch connect to the wireless router that goes to the basement.

I have an xbox wired to the wireless router as well.

In the basement, I have the D-Link switch to which I have a laptop docking station and the HP Media Vault connect.

The issue I have is that when access the files stored on the HP NAS over the network, it's really really slow On the NAS I have a 300GB drive and a 1TB WD MyBook). Accessing either of the shares is really slow.

If i disconnect the MyBook and connect it directly to the laptop, the files are accessed immediately.

When streaming to my xbox, it's really slow loading files (movies, photos, music, etc) from the NAS. If I do it with the MyBook connected to the laptop (no NAS) then it's fine.

What is the issues here? Is there a way for me to test and find the bottle neck? BTW, i tried connected the NAS directly to the wireless router (removed teh D-Link switch from the scenario) and it made no difference.

All devices have static IPs as well...

Thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

[Shaf]

[Digital_Domain]

So you have the gigabit switch upstairs and then in the basement you have another D-Link switch (I'm assuming 10/100) connected to the gigabit one upstairs?

Your Xbox and HP NAS will be limited to 100Mbps. Xbox because it is on the router itself (100Mps port), and the NAS because it is on (what I'm assuming is) a 10/100 switch.

If you're looking for gigabit access for your files, put your NAS and Xbox on the gigabit switch. If you want gigabit access in the basement, you'll have to upgrade your switch to a gigabit one. If your file transfers are still slow with everything on the gigabit switch, post the model of the gigabit switch as it might be running in only 10/100 due to a weird glitch in some switches when dealing with mixed port speeds and flow control.

[Shaf]

The WRT54G is located on the main floor for wireless acces and is a

The D-Link gigabit switch is located in the basemnet where the NAS is connected and teh laptop.


The NAS is gigabit.
Need to check if the laptop is gigabit... hmmm
The D-Link switch is gigabit
and the WRT54G is 10/100

I guess my bottle neck is the WRT54G (and maybe the laptop?)...

Any suggestions on what I can do now?

I really like the WRT54G (running DD-WRT on it)... What can I replace it with?

Another question.... is there a way to stream from the NAS to the Xbox without the laptop (running TVersity)??
Thx

[rapsrealm]

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I'm actually in the planning stages of creating a NAS setup. I have the same router as the user above WRT54G. Currently all I have attached to it is my DSL modem with Teksavvy. I have been able to stream media files on my PS3 using MediaLink off of my macbook but obviously video files are large so I want to have a central hard drive where I would be able to store all the files.

My biggest concerns are transferring files from my hard drive to the NAS, will it take a long time to transfer and also will there be a lot of lagging when i'm trying to view the files off the PS3?

[pitz]

Since everything's a static IP addr -- are the subnet masks all set correctly? (ie: 255.255.255.0 for a class C network!)

I suspect what might be happening is that, for some reason or another, traffic to/from the NAS is being forced to go through the router's IP networking core to 'reach' the other machine. Since the Linksys has a relatively slow processor, it probably can't handle routing at the sort of speeds you are wanting to achieve through the NAS. (but the switch back-end of the wrt54gl will gladly handle anything you throw at it!)

If this is the case, the solution, obviously, is to ensure that the subnet mask is set correctly so its not relying upon the switch as the gateway between the two logical subnets.

[pitz]

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I'm actually in the planning stages of creating a NAS setup. I have the same router as the user above WRT54G. Currently all I have attached to it is my DSL modem with Teksavvy. I have been able to stream media files on my PS3 using MediaLink off of my macbook but obviously video files are large so I want to have a central hard drive where I would be able to store all the files.

My biggest concerns are transferring files from my hard drive to the NAS, will it take a long time to transfer and also will there be a lot of lagging when i'm trying to view the files off the PS3?

The OP's problem seems to be unique, and is likely due to misconfiguration, or something very weird going on with his Ethernet. Maybe a bad NIC or Ethernet port in one of his devices, if its not the configuration issue that I suggested above.

I think you can create your NAS setup with confidence. There is nothing wrong with the wrt54g's software that would cause the issue that is occurring to the OP.

[Shaf]

I will definitely check all the subnet masks tonight. I am pretty sure that all the IPs, subnet masks and gateways are correct.

I could chnage it all to dynamic and test...

Here is a pic of my setup to help visualize...

[dlhunter]

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I'm actually in the planning stages of creating a NAS setup. I have the same router as the user above WRT54G. Currently all I have attached to it is my DSL modem with Teksavvy. I have been able to stream media files on my PS3 using MediaLink off of my macbook but obviously video files are large so I want to have a central hard drive where I would be able to store all the files.

My biggest concerns are transferring files from my hard drive to the NAS, will it take a long time to transfer and also will there be a lot of lagging when i'm trying to view the files off the PS3?

I have similar setup: AirPort Extreme, MBP, PS3, old desktop running Ubuntu server and D-link 323 NAS (1TB x 2 in mirror 1 setup).
NAS wired to AE via Cat 6 cable - gigabit
PS3 has wireless connection to AE via 11g ~ 54Mbps (in theory). I'll be replacing with Cat6 cable next week even though everything runs smoothly as is.
NAS has built-in media server, thus no need for MediaLink@MBP - still works via wireless connection (11g, slow at times).

[dlhunter]

I will definitely check all the subnet masks tonight. I am pretty sure that all the IPs, subnet masks and gateways are correct.

I could chnage it all to dynamic and test...

Here is a pic of my setup to help visualize..

of course, everything runs through your Dlink router, hence 100mb max
connect xbox via switch and you should see improvement

[rapsrealm]

I have similar setup: AirPort Extreme, MBP, PS3, old desktop running Ubuntu server and D-link 323 NAS (1TB x 2 in mirror 1 setup).
NAS wired to AE via Cat 6 cable - gigabit
PS3 has wireless connection to AE via 11g ~ 54Mbps (in theory). I'll be replacing with Cat6 cable next week even though everything runs smoothly as is.
NAS has built-in media server, thus no need for MediaLink@MBP - still works via wireless connection (11g, slow at times).

Not sure what you have archived on your NAS, but when you are retrieving video files to play on your PS3 does it take a long time to load and does it lag? Also, when you are transferring large files via your MBP and NAS does it take a long time? I'm just trying to figure out the pros and cons of going the NAS route compared to just purchasing a 1-2TB external hard drive.

[Shaf]

of course, everything runs through your Dlink router, hence 100mb max
connect xbox via switch and you should see improvement

Good point... Let me see if I can re-wire some of the cables so that everything goes through the switch and the LWRT54G is just for wireless access.

However,

When access my NAS while connect on the LAN (to the Dlink) there is still a lag in browsing folders... and both the laptop and NAS are connected via the dlink...