Regarding read performance from SMB

[Source_man]

Hello, i have a server which use drivepool to share the drive.

Server: Drivepool

Client: access this drivepool from SMB

I want to know how can i improve the read performance when use SMB to access the drivepool network drive?

This server is used for Streaming movie/music.

(Maybe PrimoCache?)

Thank you very much.

[Shane]

Hi! If your storage is only HDD consider upgrading that to SSD or a mix of SSD and HDD (note that if you duplicate a file across a SSD and a HDD, DrivePool should try to pick the SSD to access first where possible). Also consider upgrading your network (e.g. use 5Ghz instead of 2.4GHz bands for your WiFi, and/or use 2.5, 5 or 10 Gbit instead of 1 Gbit links for your cabling and NICs, etc) depending on what your bottleneck(s) are.

You can try prioritising network access over local access to DrivePool via the GUI: in Manage Pool -> Performance make sure Network I/O boost is ticked.

(And also make sure 'Read Striping' is NOT ticked as that feature is bugged).

Fine-tuning SMB itself can be complicated; see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/performance-tuning/role/file-server/ and https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/performance-tuning/role/file-server/smb-file-server amongst others.

PrimoCache is good for local use but doesn't help with mapped network drives according to its FAQ, and DrivePool user gtaus reported that they didn't see any performance benefits when accessing a pool (that had PrimoCache enabled) over their network.

[Source_man]

Thank you, will try it.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

a couple of things to add to that, I do recommend running "netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=highlyrestricted" from an elevated command prompt on any Windows system.  The normal "autotuning" setting is overly aggressive and causes a lot of issues, in my experience (sadly, this has been an issue since even the Vista days). 

Also, on your network adapter, disabling options like "green ethernet", any settings with "checksum" or "offload" in the name, "interrupt modulation", may help with performance and reliability. 

On 6/23/2025 at 4:33 AM, Shane said:

(And also make sure 'Read Striping' is NOT ticked as that feature is bugged).

I'd like to say "reportedly bugged".