[bleuvixen]

I have a Gigabit Ethernet Network

1 File Server Running OS X Server

5 Workstations sharing files from the File Server (All Running OS X 10.3)

All these machines are Hooked to a GigE switch (Netgear Model GS108
8-Port Copper Gigabit Switch)

I am getting about 25-30MBps on file transfers from a benchmark application.

What is the maximum I should see with GigE?

I am assuming the 25-30MBps is a limitation on the drive speed?

I want to setup a RAID 0 for my main shared drives (RAID 0 will be fine since these will be backed up anyway)

If I setup the RAID 0 on two drives I should see 50-60MBps (roughly?)?

If I add another drive to the RAID will I see 75-90MBps across the GigE?

We are basically just doing Photoshop/Quark but any speed boost on these 300MB+ Photoshop files would help :-)

Thanks for any insight!

[ghporter]

In most cases the data throughput is limited by first the network card, second the hard drive access speed, and third by the data bus speed. Fourth, and very important (!!) is the speed of these factors in the computer on the other end of the transfer. Very few computers are really up to the level of making full use of gigabit ethernet.

Figure at least 25% (very optimistic) overhead for any ethernet connection. If you're not using the very best copper cables, figure another 5-7% overhead for error correction. A computer with the steroid-enhancement to actually use a gigabit connection should be able to push 500-650Mbps (note that's "megabits," not megabytes), assuming the distant end was similarly steroid-enhanced.

[bleuvixen]

The server is a Dual 1GHz and the clients are all Dual G5 2.0GHz

So the max would be around 80MBps? (650 / 8)

So I would see some improvement going to a dual drive RAID 0, but any more would be questionable since I am running a RAID 66 card and max would be 66MBps

Thanks for the info, ill let you know how it works out anyway

[C.J. Moof]

Speed of transfers to/from my Xserve to gigabit clients is also influenced by what's attached to it.

Powerbook G4/1Ghz: 20MBps
G4/dual 533: holds about 25MBps
Dual G5 1.8Ghz: can hold 34 MBps

That's what I see in my LAN.