USB direct connect HDD slower than over network !!!

Hi there

can anybody explain this :

HDD (USB3) connected to computer and then copy files from NAS is giving me speed of around 110 MB/s (440 Mb/s) - computer connected via a network switch to NAS



USB3 connected DIRECTLY to NAS is giving about 60 - 70 MB/s

Not sure why Network would be quicker than local connect.

Configuration Windows PC LAN ---Switch --->Netgear Nighthawk wifi to router
NAS -->Switch (LAN) -->Netgrear Nighthawk extender wifi to router,

The nighthawk is connected to the switch via LAN cable. Wifi for accessing Internet from Nighthawk extender to router (5GHZ)

HDD is USB3 passport 2 TB self powered drive.

Anybody got ideas -- not complaining but seems intuitive that a Network connection would be slower than USB3 direct connect. Switch is a 1Gb/s netgear 5 port switch.

the wonders of Windows Networking I suppose. !!!!

Cheers
jimbo

What NAS do you have?

Just from speculation, I think it could be:
- Hardware, drivers, and/or OS were optimized for network performance and the manufacturer just cheaped out on the USB hardware/software stack
- The filesystem driver on the NAS is significantly slower than the one on Windows. If you're using NTFS on that drive and the NAS is using a Linux-based OS then there is an expected slowdown due to the open-source NTFS driver.

Hi there

Thanks

Using NTFS directly on Linux isn't a good idea -- no probs with Network either way the NFS / network file system handles the overhead.

Re-formatting HDD to ext4 or even XFS File system fixed it -- now full USB3 speed. It still transfers over network decently too.

I'm not sure why I had that HDD formatted in NTFS -- I usually use that one as extra backup for DVD rips --in this case old TV series and if attached to Windows - I it attach it normally via a Linux VM with a Linux File system. --- must be getting old !!!!!

Marked as solved.

Cheers
jimbo