BlackArmor NAS Network Storage Server

[Dmangusto]

I ahve no access problems or folder share problems etc., but when copying a file from one location to another on the drive it takes forever (one music file takes 5 minutes to copy/paste). also, when attempting to stream anything from the NAS to my laptop, or Directv box it (the reason I bought this in the first place) the stream is so broken up it is unusable, music won't play properly, home videos stall etc. My laptop is wireless and my desktop and Directv box are both wired. It operated the same regardless.

Box is connected to a Dlink DIR 655 where everything else is working fine. I believe I've set up everything correctly, but perhaps I missed something. Any help?

[Bill-D]

Dmagusto,

I have the identical situation as yours.  This is my first NAS so I also feel that I am missing something. 

Santa left a Black Armor NAS 110 in my stocking and after I hooked it up to my wired gigabit LAN (also with a D-Link DIR 655 router), the NAS seems to function as advertised except for very very slow reads (0.5 MB/sec).  Including when I copy from one directory to another in the same NAS.

Writes to the NAS are fast (25-30 MB/sec).  I've tried various file sizes from 16 MB to 1 GB.  Same deal.  I have 3 computers, XP, Vista and Vista64.  Same deal on all 3.  Transferring files between my computers is fast.  Running Jperf on the LAN shows its working at gig speeds all the way to the end of the cable plugged into the NAS.

The benchmark results for this NAS on smallnetbuilder.com say I should also get 25-30 MB/sec reads, so I'm reluctant to return it.  I'm continuing to read through this forum and trying various things, but all are dead ends so far.

 Advice from any of Santa's helpers on this forum would be greatly appreciated.

Bill

Message Edited by Bill-D on 12-27-2009 05:15 PM

[john_tx]

I had a similar issue with my NAS110 ... great file transfer speeds from my three networked computers to the NAS via wireless and gigabit ethernet, but very slow (20-100 KB/s) speeds from the NAS back to the computers ... we're taking hours to move a 500MB file.  This was using a Belkin N+ wireless router (F5D8235-4 v2) and mixed OS's, Windows XP and Windows 7 (64 bit).  After lots of network testing with every variable examined and on-line research, I concluded it had to be the router. Seems like some Belkin and D-Link routers have issues with Seagate BlackArmor NAS products.

I ditched the Belkin (had many other issues with it anyway) and picked up a Netgear Dual Band Wireless N router (WNDR3700) yesterday and I'm loving life.  Great router with tons of features.  The NAS is working great now with speeds up to 50 MB/s over the gigabit ethernet and over 12 MB/s over wireless N ... feels as fast as an internal HD.

You may want to test out a spare router if available to see if that fixes it or i suggest you pick up a new Linksys or Netgear router. You can also try a different network storage device (i.e. Western Digital World Book) to see if that works.  A firmware update for your D-link or the NAS may fix the issue .... those are hard to come by with Belkin.

Hope this helps

[Bill-D]

John,

Thanks for the input.  My NAS is located two gig switches away from my D-Link DIR-655.  Inspired by your suggestion, I took my network out of the equation and connected the NAS110 directly to my Vista64 laptop with fixed IP addresses.  The transfers were fast (both read and write) so the network was the culprit (somehow).  It seems like a problem with the switch. 

To my surprise, when I went back and plugged the NAS and the Vista laptop back to their original locations - both plugged into the switch (D-Link DGS-2205) - the transfers continued to be fast!

I wonder if the routing tables in the switch were out-of-whack somehow?   I'm sort of relieved, but worried this problem will return. - Any thoughts on what caused it?

Bill

[john_tx]

Bill,

Glad to hear you got it to work! Your guess is as good as mine about what caused it...could be something with the switch vice the router.

One suggestion that may prevent your issue from reoccurring is to assign a static IP address to the NAS ... as you would a print server.  This should help keep things stable.

-John

[Dmangusto]

Thanks for the feedback. I was looking for an excuse to get a new dual band router, so maybe this is it. I'm going to plug it in directly to one of my machines, and if that fixes things, then its off to Best Buy for a new router... ssshhhh, don't tell my wife .

[computerteen]

Looks like you are using the network a lot. You may want to consider upgrading from 10/100 to gigabit. This entales changing out all network hardware (NICs, switches, routers, ect.) and any of that cat 5 or cat 5e cable you still have around for cat 6 or cat 7.

[Bill-D]

Dmagusto,

Save your money - The D-Link DIR 655 router that you have is a good gigibit router.  It will work with the Black Armor NAS 110.  Is the NAS plugged directly into a router port or does it go through a network switch?  If it's through a switch, it should be gigabit switch.

Try rebooting the NAS by going to the system menu - bottom of list - shut down/reboot - select reboot.  Then test the file transfer speed again.

Bill

[john_tx]

Similar compatibility issues with D-Link switches / routers and the NAS 220 discussed here:

http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/message?board.id=BlackArmorNAS&thread.id=285 

[Dmangusto]

The problem seems to definitely be the router or settings within it. When I hardwire the NAS to my laptop directly, it works perfectly. It copies files fast, streams fine etc. When I'm hardwired through the router, with either my laptop or desktop machines it is super slow, unusable. When I use Wifi, the same thing occurs, super slow. I changed a bunch of router settings (one at a time) based on advice from a Dlink forum thread with similar problems with a PS3, but to no avail.

My house newer and is hardwired with Cat6 cable, so no problems there and I used the same cable the NAS connects to the router with to plug into my laptop, so that cable is OK too.

The only good to come out of this so far is that I've updated firmware and drivers on every piece of hardware I own. So I'm thoroughly up to date. 

I'm going to try the Dlink DIR855 or Linksys WRT610n, both dual band which would be useful for me anyway and see if that takes care of the problem. I'll probably get the Dlink, since this NAS issue aside, it has worked flawlessly for a couple of years with no issues replacing a previous Netgear piece that had terrible signal problems.

Thanks for all the feedback on this forum. I appreciate it. I'll re-post once the new router is in place.