Network backup very slow on Synology NAS?
Hi
A few days ago I installed a Synology DS211j NAS. I use Acronis® True Image Home® Version 10.0 (build 4.940) for network backups.
The firmware version from the NAS is DSM 3.0-1354, which should be compatible with Acronis True Image. The backup function works, but extremely slow.
For instance the intial backup of a disk image with 100Gb of data lasts more than 24 hours. The same backup on an internal sATA drive take only 20-30 minutes or so.
The NAS ist wired (not WIFI) through a Wireless Gigabit Broadband Router (Sitecom WL 351).
Computer and system: ASUS P6T (Gigabit LAN), Intel i7 920 CPU, Windows Vista Ultimate Service Pack 2. In the NAS are 2 harddisks Type Western Digital 2Tb WD20EARS. The RAID Konfiguration is Synology Hybrid Raid with a total capacity of about 1,72 Gb.
Is this performance normal? Or is something wrong? Any ideas greatly appreciated.
Hello,
I have almost the same problem. I use a NAS Synology DS 211+. The PC running Windows XP Home SP 3 is wired to the internet router and the DS is also wired to the router. Until two weeks ago the backup of two partitions of approx. total 200 GB was done in approx. 2 hours. We used Acronis True Image Home 2009. Since two weeks now we have problems. The backup did not finish the last time and now is takes almost 18 hours to finish. The DS runs normally, as does Windows. We updated to True Image 2013, but still the same problem.
What can slow down the backup that dramatically? Could it be the hard disk?
Thanks for your hints in advance!
Best regards,
Patrick
When using ATI with a network drive, use a UNC path to your NAS device for a backup destination, not a typical friendly "mapped" drive. e.g.
\\192.168.2.25\My Backups\
It should also be possible to use a UNC path that includes server name rather than IP, such as
\\server1\My Backups\
ATI will not automatically detect a NAS drive. Once you start typing the destination path (click "Browse", type in the "File name" field), you will be prompted for a username and password. You must use enter the username and password that has permissions to access the NAS share you are saving to.
Many users have had issues with NAS, not because of Acronis but because the router gets overloaded with data throughput and cannot keep a consistent enough connection with the NAS for True Image to image or restore.
Hello tuttle,
Thanks for your reply. This sounds interesting. However the NAS is already mapped as drive Z: And the other thing is, that until two weeks ago it worked well. The NAS is mapped as Z: since quite a while. The user data was asked by ATI and I filled it in.
I am wondering what could cause the sudden slow speed?
Cheers,
Patrick
Speed issues almost certainly have more to do with your hardware and network connectivity than with True Image.
Other possible contributing factors:
- Over time, backups tend to get larger as we tend to add more data and more applications to our PCs, as well as more Windows Updates. Larger backups require more time.
- If the target drive has more data on it than it used to (more space in use), then write times will take longer.
I guess you are right. I need t check the router and the NAS again. I quickly estimated the speed before and now. There is a factor of around 10. Something is wrong with the connection to the router maybe.
Before the backup of 200 GB was done in approx. 2 h, i.e. with around 28 MB/s. Now it takes almost 18 h, i.e. only 3 MB/s. Normally the write speed to the DS 211+ is around 40 MB/s. I have to check the speed by copying some big files this evening ...
Bye,
Patrick
P.S.
Larger Backup: True, but the change in speed came suddenly, the data maybe increased by 1%.
Space: There is around 1 TB left on the NAS, this should be sufficient
I checked the write speed by copying a 15 GB Backup file to the Diskstation and it is below 1 MB/s. Then I checked the hard disk status of the hard disks in the Diskstation and I have S.M.A.R.T. errors on both disks! Very strange ...?! I will connect the Diskstation to another PC running Win 7 and check the transfer speed. I guess, I need two new 2 TB hard disks ...
Ciao,
Patrick
Often when there are problems creating or opening a True Image backup, the reason is disk errors.
Also, all network traffic using the same switch and/or NAS will effect the speed of the backup. If everything is 100mbps, and there are users streaming media online having to use the same switch, this can effect network traffic.
Also, not saying you are, but backup over wireless is as smart as putting a screen door on the outside of a submarine.
Sooo, the problem is solved!
When checking the S.M.A.R.T. status of the two 2 TB Seagate hard disks seek errors where reported in the S.M.A.R.T. test. I thought that this of course is the reason for the slow transfer speed and replaced the two hard disks with two new ones from WD. However the speed remained slow as before.
Finally I checked the in-built switch of the Wifi access point to which the PC is connected cia LAN cable. After rebooting the access point full 1000 MBit/s speed was available at the LAN ports again and now the backup to the DS works again with around 30-40 MB/s as before.
Uff!!!
Sooo, the problem is solved!
When checking the S.M.A.R.T. status of the two 2 TB Seagate hard disks seek errors where reported in the S.M.A.R.T. test. I thought that this of course is the reason for the slow transfer speed and replaced the two hard disks with two new ones from WD. However the speed remained slow as before.
Finally I checked the in-built switch of the Wifi access point to which the PC is connected cia LAN cable. After rebooting the access point full 1000 MBit/s speed was available at the LAN ports again and now the backup to the DS works again with around 30-40 MB/s as before.
Uff!!!
Thanks for reporting back. I have dealt with many users who have slow or problematic backups due to their routers. It's great that a simple reboot of your access point improved your throughput.