Semaphore timeout - but only browsing NAS

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by TheSkaffer, Nov 6, 2017.

  1. TheSkaffer

    TheSkaffer MDL Senior Member

    May 16, 2010
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  2. MS_User

    MS_User MDL Guru

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    have u tried detaching the old usb drives from the NAS they mite causing the problem....also try one NAS drive at a time and see if u can back up...then attach the second and so on...until u get the error it mite be one of your NAS enclosure connectors it could be a lot of things....just start with one at a time...good luck....post a few pics here of your setup it cant hurt....maybe someone here has a better understanding on NAS tech. good luck.
     
  3. TheSkaffer

    TheSkaffer MDL Senior Member

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    Hiya, I detached the USB drives (and rebooted the nas) while troubleshooting and those are currently not connected, but i don't really see how I can try one nas drive at a time since the 4 relevant drives are part of a production raid...
    I am inclined to believe the issue is on the server, somehow hardware or software related.
     
  4. MS_User

    MS_User MDL Guru

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    #4 MS_User, Nov 7, 2017
    Last edited: Nov 7, 2017
    u say the problem started after u upgrade the NAS with bigger HD....does the NAS your running comes with software that u run from the server....maybe u need to reconfigure or change the RAID type of a volume or disk group....try changing from Raid 5 to Raid 1 and see what happens.


    Here are the three common RAID levels:

    RAID 0 allows you to have the maximum amount of storage, but you will not have a backup of the data if one of your HDDs fails. For example, if you have two 2 TB drives, the total array size is 4TB and you will have 3.72 TB of usable storage.

    RAID 1 allows you to mirror data between two hard drives, so if one HDD fails, you still have the data secured on the other drive. However, if you have two 2 TB drives, your total array size is only 2 TB, and you will have will have 1.86 TB of usable storage. This way if one hard drive fails, you still have another copy.

    RAID 5 stripes both data and parity information on three or more HDDs. It is very popular RAID level as it has relatively good performance level and it will work fine even if one hard drive fails in the array. If you have five 2 TB drives, your total array size is 8 TB, and you will have 7.45 TB of usable storage.

    In my 2-bay server, I use the RAID 1 level as it provides much greater security compared to the RAID 0 even if I lose 2 TB of storage.
     
  5. TheSkaffer

    TheSkaffer MDL Senior Member

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    Sorry MS_User, it seems to me you are drawing some erroneous conclusions and asking me to do things that are not relevant in this context.

    The RAID has always been 5. Nas has inbuilt utilities for RAID upgrades and reconfiguration once you supplied relevant HDD's. The NAS has no need for any particular software for access via PC, filewise or other. True, Asustor do have some apps for this, but the issue does not seem to lie with the NAS itself, since I can browse the NAS shared file storage perfectly well from two other desktops with no performance drops even remotely similar to the ones experienced via the 2012 server.

    Hence my conclusion is that the fault lies in the communication with the server, on the server, be that caused by any hardware or software combination on the server itself, is yet to be determined.
     
  6. MS_User

    MS_User MDL Guru

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    well im just back stepping u claim everything was working until u upgraded the NAS HD.....simply trouble shutting tells me what change.....so is a config issue or something in HW is causing the problem.
     
  7. WindowsGeek

    WindowsGeek MDL Expert

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    Have u tried something simple like change the NAS USB port in the server and reset everything like reboot server ,NAS and all the workstations.
     
  8. TheSkaffer

    TheSkaffer MDL Senior Member

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    Aye.
    However, the NAS is not connected to the server via USB, it is connected to the server via my Router (no switches in between) network UTP Cat5e. There is about 30-40 meters between them, one is in the Garage and one in my office. In case the house catches fire or something... ;)
     
  9. WindowsGeek

    WindowsGeek MDL Expert

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  10. TheSkaffer

    TheSkaffer MDL Senior Member

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    Well, I fear the answer is "no changes relevant to this topic and it worked before". The Router does have a firewall and monitoring though, so I shall fiddle a bit with it. Its an ASUS RT-AC87U, pretty new. Maybe something got activated with latest FW.
     
  11. TheSkaffer

    TheSkaffer MDL Senior Member

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    I disabled most if not all network security setting on the router, removed IPv6 from all machines, tested transfer from my desktop to my server via mapped drives.

    Must be the 2012 server. Somehow. Hardware has not changed for years, only the raid disks.
    Now I have 20MB transferring one compacted file and 1-4 MB when transferring a folder full of diverse files, including small. Transferring the same files to the NAS from my desktop gives about 85MB/S.

    There is a chance I selected some option when creating the Raid, making it slower.
     
  12. MS_User

    MS_User MDL Guru

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    #12 MS_User, Nov 8, 2017
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2017
    is the NAS and router in your garage? heat and dust can also affect HW. maybe the issue is with your cat 5 cable make sure is not twisted or kink some were...are u aware cat 6A has five times the bandwidth capacity of Category 5e
     
  13. TheSkaffer

    TheSkaffer MDL Senior Member

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    I am aware of all that.

    Just to clear out any basic question, I am an IT Technician with about 20 years of experience building and repairing all kinds of computers and laptops, not so much servers though. There is nothing you told me I have not thought of already in regards to basic hardware, cleanliness, transfer speeds and similar topics.

    The bottleneck is always I/O on HDD, unless you run some high end PCIe SSD M2 NVME cards with transfer rates up to 3000/2000 MB R/W. Like I do on one laptop. But even 7200RPM HDD's should be able to handle above 200....

    My primary suspect is the integrated LAN controller on the SuperMicro motherboard, which would be a big bummer since those costs above 700 $...
     
  14. MS_User

    MS_User MDL Guru

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    in my opinion i believe u would be better served with the NAS and router right next the server with a very short cable lets say 2 to 3 feet. data transfer would be a lot faster.
     
  15. TheSkaffer

    TheSkaffer MDL Senior Member

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    I will try that as troubleshooting this weekend, but it is not viable as a permanent state.
     
  16. TheSkaffer

    TheSkaffer MDL Senior Member

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  17. WindowsGeek

    WindowsGeek MDL Expert

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    Why not just bump up to srv2016
     
  18. TheSkaffer

    TheSkaffer MDL Senior Member

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    Sure I have considered it, but the licensing options , hmm here, seem a bit obscure, lack of GUI...?. But that is another matter, eventually I will get there.

    However, it is not only that, I have yet to determine net lag, not only from the server, but also a bit, but not so much, from my desktop.
    So the Nas mapped shares lag, both on desktop and on server, but many many many times worse on the server.

    Got a tech ticket with the nas manufacturer
     
  19. WindowsGeek

    WindowsGeek MDL Expert

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    srv2016 version 14393 comes with a GUI check it out when u have the time.