Transferring data between desktop and NAS - takes days for backup

arnprasad

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Hi,

As posted in another thread, I bought a WD EX2 8TB so that I can use the RAID 1 configuration to save all my files. Now all my files are on desktop and totals around a TB. Now I have connected by WD to my router and mapped it as an alphabet (Z drive) on my desktop. When I use windows explorer to copy paste files from C to Z drive, I see that the speed is 11 MBps and it shows 24 hours+ to copy. Since both my desktop and WD have USB3 slots, I bought a male to male cable hoping the speeds will go up multiple times - but don't see any difference in the speeds as it still seems to trf files over wifi.

I have googled and there are tons of sites giving solutions from directly connecting the WD to desktop via an Ethernet cable and using static IPs and other such ideas and I am totally lost. I have a hathway connection and there are some sites suggesting that typically the routers are the reason its this slow.

One would have thought that by investing in the latest hardware technology like USB 3, one would he achieving at least 100s of MBps or GB ps and its very frustrating to see such speeds for simple copying of files between two sets of hardware.

Any simple free ideas to trf the 1TB in 2-3 hours? with power failures and family switching off the power switch at nights - somehow I don't feel comfortable leaving the transfer process a 24 hour window. Thx

In my task manager I can see under 'network' it shows 95-97% showing 90 mbps...which is equal to my explorers 11 MPBS..so that makes sense but what is the limiting factor that is limiting it to this rate of transfer?
 
If I were you, I would skip the router, take a crossover LAN cable and connect it directly to my desktop and then check the speed.

Alternatively note that this has a USB 3.0 (Serial SATA) port, I am not sure if your desktop has one too. It would be marked with an SS against the port, if your desktop has one, then skip the network, connect it over USB3.0 and allow it to copy. Note it may be required to update your USB drivers if you have not done so already.

Thanks & Regards,
Rajiv S Kulkarni
 
is that a Gigabit Router ?
and dont copy files over wifi, it should always be a wired connection.
i wonder why its not working even when u connected via usb 3 and moving files locally from folder to folder. something is missing .
1tb of data is only movies ? or any other data with loads of files, like system files or some installation files ?
 
This NAS supports around 100 MB/s read speed and 70 MB/s write speed. So the problem is obviously with your network.

1) Is your router/switch Gigabit one?
2) Does your LAN card support Gigabit connection?
 
If I were you, I would skip the router, take a crossover LAN cable and connect it directly to my desktop and then check the speed.

Alternatively note that this has a USB 3.0 (Serial SATA) port, I am not sure if your desktop has one too. It would be marked with an SS against the port, if your desktop has one, then skip the network, connect it over USB3.0 and allow it to copy. Note it may be required to update your USB drivers if you have not done so already.

Thanks & Regards,
Rajiv S Kulkarni

Hi..Will try it today.

(a) if I connect these two sets of hardware by using a Ethernet cable..will my desktop recognize the router? currently it does as all of them are on the same network

(b) As mentioned, I did buy a male to male USB 3 but I have read on the internet that by doing this, the computer is not going to recognize the the WD as another external hard drive.
 
is that a Gigabit Router ?
and dont copy files over wifi, it should always be a wired connection.
i wonder why its not working even when u connected via usb 3 and moving files locally from folder to folder. something is missing .
1tb of data is only movies ? or any other data with loads of files, like system files or some installation files ?

I did read in one of the google links that this WD drive when connected to a desktop doesnt recognize as an external hard drives..guess thats one of the characteristics of NAS if I understood it correctly. Hence even when I connected them via a USB 3...this is when both were still connected to my router - I didnt get any prompt nor did windows tell me that an external hard drive is connected.

95% of these files are media files including home videos, pictures, music and of course tons of movies
 
I am keeping this short and simple. In case you don't have these...upgrade.

1. Gigabit switch/router
2. All cat6 cables

All the best!

How do I know what I currently have please? as mentioned earlier, I have an assembled desktop which is two years old but that time it had medium specs i5 processor and stuff.

And my internet connection is hathway..not really sure what kind of routers they provide.

Reg CAT6 switches..no idea..not even sure how to check them. Thx
 
How do I know what I currently have please? as mentioned earlier, I have an assembled desktop which is two years old but that time it had medium specs i5 processor and stuff.

And my internet connection is hathway..not really sure what kind of routers they provide.

Reg CAT6 switches..no idea..not even sure how to check them. Thx
WD EX2 has gigabit ethernet...so no problems are there.
Please let us know the make and model no of the following:
1. Win pc motherboard
2. Router/switch

If you are using branded lan cables, category (cat 5/6) should be written either on cable jacket or on the plastic terminal clip. If you don't find such things, post whatever is written on the cable jacket.
 
Hi
11MBps clearly tells tht either ur router or desktop ethernet port is 100Mbps LAN.
I too faced same issue and found out tht laptop ethernet port to be the culprit. If u also run into same, there are gud USB3 to gigabit ethernet port connectors available.
I have been using
QuantumZERO QZ-AD02 USB 3.0 to RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet LAN Adapter
for months now, n it has been serving well.

Hope this helps
 
Hi
As pointed by others, its clear that either of your desktop ethernet LAN or router is not gigabit and is 100Mbps.
I too faced same issue, and found out that laptop ethernet port was not gigabit ( 1Gbps).
i m currently using USB3 to gigabit ethernet adapter cable and it is working out fine.
Ethernet cables will have print on them marking it cat4 or cat6/6e. also u can check at connecter end if all contacts are supplied with wire strands for cat6 cable, else it is cat4.
Hope this helps
-Anil
 
the usb port of wd ex2 is to connect another hard drive and not to connect to pc/laptop

so when you are trying to connect the wd to pc its not recognised.

in the task manager under networking what is the link speed shown.
is it 100mbps or gbps?
 
Try this. Remove HDD from the device, attach to pc on a internal sata port.,(like a normal internal hdd) power on pc and install ext2fsd software.
Now your wd drive will be an internal hdd. Copy files from pc to hdd , after copying done shut down pc, put the hdd back to wd device.
 
... ... ... with power failures and family switching off the power switch at nights - somehow I don't feel comfortable leaving the transfer process a 24 hour window. ... ... ...

This is tangential to your real question about networking, which I leave to people with experience of the product, but offered just in case you find it useful.

Whenever copies of data get interrupted or fail, the question is inevitably, what worked, what didn't?

The way that I get around this question (and also the way that I keep backup copies up to date) is not to use simple copy commands, but to use software that synchronises one set of files with another. On Linux, I use rsync (graphic front end: grsync). On windows, I used allway Sync It is nag-ware, but I found it so useful that I paid up! Just make sure you set the direction to [normally] synchronise from your source files to your destination files.

Using the synchronise idea means I can even abandon a copy process at some point; unfinished destination files will be shown up as different and copied again.
 
Thanks Thad, that background sync type of option seemed very niceto me , imagine if we have similar ones to backup mobile phones / pictures when we are at home :)

For the speed of transfer, sometimes a faulty LAN cable even if cat5e / 5e+ / 6 and smaller length can give lesser speed, even 10 mbps so I recommeded checking with another cable if the above resolutions do not work
 
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