QNAP NAS Community Forum

jeffbaygents wrote:...3 Seagate Barracuda Drives (3Tb, 7200 rpm, SATA 3: 6 Gbps).

jeffbaygents wrote:Greetings QNAP users. I have a new TS-563 and am primarily using it for NetBak Replicator, using RAID 5. I have 2Gb RAM, 1 small Intel SSD drive as cache, 3 Seagate Barracuda Drives (3Tb, 7200 rpm, SATA 3: 6 Gbps). The SATA 3 drives are in bays 3,4,5. In checking each drive, there are no errors reported; however, in 2 of the 3 drives are reporting running "currently" at 3Gbps and also reported that their "max" available speed is 6Gbps. I used to have those drives in a computer and verified they do run at Sata 3 but in this QNAP NAS, a couple of them are only running at SATA 2 speed ! I don't recall if I picked thin/thick volume at the time of setup but don't know if that causes this reduced performance or not. I only use a single volume, RAID 5, resulting in about 5.5 Tb of space. Not sure of what other info anyone might need but I could sure use some guidance as the how I can get it to full performance speed with all 3 drives running at SATA 3. Any ideas ? I'm prepared to format and start all over if that's what it takes. Thanks for any guidance on this.

#!/bin/sh
rm -f /tmp/nasreport
touch /tmp/nasreport
chmod +x /tmp/nasreport
cat <<EOF >>/tmp/nasreport
#!/bin/sh
#
# NAS Report by Patrick Wilson
# see: http://forum.qnap.com/viewtopic.php?f=185&t=82260#p366188
#
# 
echo "[code]*********************"
echo "** QNAP NAS Report **"
echo "*********************"
echo " "
echo "NAS Model:      \$(getsysinfo model)"
echo "Firmware:       \$(getcfg system version) Build \$(getcfg system 'Build Number')"
echo "System Name:    \$(/bin/hostname)"
echo "Workgroup:      \$(getcfg system workgroup)"
echo "Base Directory: \$(dirname \$(getcfg -f /etc/config/smb.conf Public path))"
echo "NAS IP address: \$(ifconfig \$(getcfg network 'Default GW Device') | grep addr: | awk '{ print \$2 }' | cut -d: -f2)"
echo " " 
echo "Default Gateway Device: \$(getcfg network 'Default GW Device')" 
echo " "
ifconfig \$(getcfg network 'Default GW Device') | grep -v HWaddr
echo " "
echo -n "DNS Nameserver(s):" 
cat /etc/resolv.conf | grep nameserver | cut -d' ' -f2
echo " "
echo " "
echo "HDD Information:"
echo " "
alpha='abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'
drives=\$(getcfg Storage 'Disk Drive Number')
for ((i=1;i<=drives;++i)) ; do
	echo -n "HDD\$i -"
	if [ ! -b /dev/sd\${alpha:\$i-1:1} ] ; then
		echo "Drive absent"
	else
		hdparm -i /dev/sd\${alpha:\$i-1:1} | grep "Model"
		echo " "
		parted /dev/sd\${alpha:\$i-1:1} print
		echo " "
		/sbin/get_hd_smartinfo -d \$i
		echo " "
	fi
done
echo "Volume Status"
echo " "
mdadm -D /dev/md0 /dev/md1 2>/dev/null
echo " "
cat /proc/mdstat
echo " "
echo "Disk Space:"
echo " "
df -h | grep -v qpkg
echo " "
echo "Mount Status:" 
echo " "
mount | grep -v qpkg
echo " "
#echo "Contents of \$(dirname \$(getcfg -f /etc/config/smb.conf Public path)):"
#echo " "
#ls -lF \$(dirname \$(getcfg -f /etc/config/smb.conf Public path))/
#echo " "
#echo "Windows Shares:" 
#echo " "
#for i in \$(grep \] /etc/config/smb.conf | sed 's/\[//g' | sed 's/\]//g' | grep -v global) ;do 
#	echo -n "\$i:"
#	testparm -s -l --section-name=\$i --parameter-name=path 2>/dev/null 
#done
#echo " "
#echo "QNAP Media Scanner / Transcoder processes running: "
#echo " " 
#/bin/ps | grep medialibrary | grep -v grep
#echo " " 
#echo -n "MediaLibrary Configuration file: " 
#ls -alF /etc/config/medialibrary.conf
#echo " " 
#echo "/etc/config/medialibrary.conf:"
#cat /etc/config/medialibrary.conf
echo " "
echo "Memory Information:" 
echo " "
free | grep -v cache:
echo " "
echo "NASReport completed on \$(date +'%Y-%m-%d %T') (\$0) 

jeffbaygents wrote:Thank you for your input pwilson. Before choosing QNAP, I did check for compatibility and they used to be on the list but now are not. Hmmmm. Oh well. Am afraid to replace with something else on the compatibility list because then they too might be pulled off. Two of the drives are your undesired models yet, one of them is the one that's working okay at 6 Gb/s. Don't know what Putty is but, there's no fix since the drives aren't on the compatibility list anymore, right? Thanks for identifying the cause. Take care.

jeffbaygents wrote:Am afraid to replace with something else on the compatibility list because then they too might be pulled off.

• Don't choose a disk model that is absolutely new on the market.
• In addition to checking the compatibility list, also check this forum for user reports on the disk model number (no posts mean no trouble).

dolbyman wrote:at the end of the day .. 3Gb\s vs 6Gb/s ... neither the drives nor network speed (unless you have 10Gb/s network) should be bottle necked by it

jeffbaygents wrote:...as I advance to RAID 10...

I've got about 2 yrs left on the 5 yr Seagate warranty so I'll replace them as they fail.

jeffbaygents wrote:Regarding my goal of RAID 10, you recommended RAID 6. I understand that RAID 6 does offer greater redundancy than 10. And I understand that the redundancy of 10 is offered on only 1 drive of each pair.

This unit is only used in my home, I have double backups, and will enjoy the speed when I get to RAID 10.

If the NAS does experience a communication issue on the SATA bus, it will lower the speed ie. from 6 Gb/s to 3 Gb/s or 1.5 Gb/s - this explains why it's back on 6 Gb/s after a reboot or unplug/replug (later is a little bit drastic) - the communication issue has not returned.

Here is an example of a SATA unit having a SATA bus communication or signal issue, leading to a speed down to 3 Gb/s:

[196188.027884] ata10: exception Emask 0x10 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x4200000 action 0xe frozen
[196188.035499] ata10: irq_stat 0x80000040, connection status changed
[196188.041722] ata10: SError: { BadCRC DevExch }
[196188.046209] ata10: hard resetting link
[196188.050085] Speed down due to signal issue.
[196188.054392] Speed down due to signal issue.
[196188.936888] ata10: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 320)

Unless it's an SSD ... the 6 Gb/s is for stomach flattering only, no mechanical HDD will reach those numbers anyway, leaving some cache access peeks alone.

schumaku wrote:Note that some NAS models in general, or higher ports numbers might be implemented in 3 Gb/s only.