I have had the 4TB (2TB RAID1 config.) unit for 3 days now and I am very disappointed with its performance
After testing different scenarios I think the issue may be related to the Network Interface Card and/or its configuration.
My setup:
Netgear unmanaged gigabit switch / all CAT6 patch cables.
HP Win 7 x64 system with Gigabit NIC.
Sony BR player BDP-BX58 (wired 100Mbps / wireless ~54Mbps), DLNA certified.
WD My Book Live Duo 4TB (RAID1)
D-Link DIR-615 router (b/g/n) / UPnP enabled.
Folder structure on the WD MBLD:
Public (a few videos/formats for testing purposes)
The following are folders / shares outside the Public folder / share
Documents (private share)
Pictures (public share)
Videos (public share)
Tests:
I have modified the WD unit so as to expose all shares and eliminate any doubts about disk performance issues; Transferring files between local directories is fast, as expected.
Transfer speed rates (layman’s terms via Win GUI or Sony’s BR menu options):
PC < > WD Sharespace (device borrowed for testing purposes with 1GB NIC, I did not test its media server capabilities), ~20MB/sec
PC < > WD My Book Live Duo, never above 9MB/sec which may be ok for 100Mbps networks.
WEB streaming (YouTube/Hulu) to Sony BR, varies but no lag problems.
WD > Sony BR, unacceptable/unbearable (144Kbps) via wireless and not much better when connected via network cable.
A 10MB picture takes the proverbial forever to show up and a 50MB video you can only see about 5 secs at a time.
The Sony BR player does not exhibit these issues with media on USB drives. Not a fare comparison but this should hint transcoding on the Sony unit is not an issue.
I am yet to test using the PC as a media server and have not even dare to use any cell apps.
iTunes is disabled as we have no need.
I have also noticed that while the manual Rebuild operation takes place (via button), the media server is not accessible.
Is it possible, via SSH, to look at/ modify NIC settings (Auto sensing/full duplex/ MTU size, etc.)?
EDIT:
eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP qlen 1000
mii-tool > eth0: negotiated 1000baseT-FD, link ok
Thanks and hopefully I am a lone wolf on this one.