# File sharing suffering very low speed via Samba

## clouds222

I'm current running Samba3.4.12. but when I copy a 800MB file, it takes a long time, about 700KB/s. 

I don't know if it is samba configuration issue of something other.

Here is my configuration file.

```

#======================= Global Settings =====================================

[global]

# 1. Server Naming Options:

# workgroup = NT-Domain-Name or Workgroup-Name

   workgroup = workgroup

# netbios name is the name you will see in "Network Neighbourhood",

# but defaults to your hostname

  netbios name = homeserver

# server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field

#   server string = Samba Server %v

   server string = homeserver

# 2. Printing Options:

# CHANGES TO ENABLE PRINTING ON ALL CUPS PRINTERS IN THE NETWORK

# if you want to automatically load your printer list rather

# than setting them up individually then you'll need this

#   printcap name = cups

#   load printers = no

# It should not be necessary to spell out the print system type unless

# yours is non-standard. Currently supported print systems include:

# bsd, sysv, plp, lprng, aix, hpux, qnx, cups

#   printing = cups

# 3. Logging Options:

# this tells Samba to use a separate log file for each machine

# that connects

   log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m

# Put a capping on the size of the log files (in Kb).

   max log size = 50

# Set the log (verbosity) level (0 <= log level <= 10)

; log level = 3

# 4. Security and Domain Membership Options:

# This option is important for security. It allows you to restrict

# connections to machines which are on your local network. The

# following example restricts access to two C class networks and

# the "loopback" interface. For more examples of the syntax see

# the smb.conf man page. Do not enable this if (tcp/ip) name resolution does

# not work for all the hosts in your network.

;   hosts allow = 192.168.1. 192.168.2. 127.

# Uncomment this if you want a guest account, you must add this to /etc/passwd

# otherwise the user "nobody" is used

;  guest account = pcguest

# Allow users to map to guest:

  map to guest = bad user

# Security mode. Most people will want user level security. See

# security_level.txt for details.

   security = user

# Use password server option only with security = server or security = domain

# When using security = domain, you should use password server = *

;   password server = <NT-Server-Name>

;   password server = *

# Password Level allows matching of _n_ characters of the password for

# all combinations of upper and lower case.

;  password level = 8

;  username level = 8

# You may wish to use password encryption. Please read

# ENCRYPTION.txt, Win95.txt and WinNT.txt in the Samba documentation.

# Do not enable this option unless you have read those documents

# Encrypted passwords are required for any use of samba in a Windows NT domain

# The smbpasswd file is only required by a server doing authentication, thus

# members of a domain do not need one.

  encrypt passwords = yes

# The following are needed to allow password changing from Windows to

# also update the Linux system password.

# NOTE: Use these with 'encrypt passwords' and 'smb passwd file' above.

# NOTE2: You do NOT need these to allow workstations to change only

#        the encrypted SMB passwords. They allow the Unix password

#        to be kept in sync with the SMB password.

  unix password sync = Yes

# You either need to setup a passwd program and passwd chat, or

# enable pam password change

;  pam password change = yes

;  passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u

;  passwd chat = *New*UNIX*password* %n\n *Re*ype*new*UNIX*password* %n\n \

;*passwd:*all*authentication*tokens*updated*successfully*

# Unix users can map to different SMB User names

  username map = /etc/samba/smbusers

# Using the following line enables you to customise your configuration

# on a per machine basis. The %m gets replaced with the netbios name

# of the machine that is connecting

;   include = /etc/samba/smb.conf.%m

# Options for using winbind. Winbind allows you to do all account and

# authentication from a Windows or samba domain controller, creating

# accounts on the fly, and maintaining a mapping of Windows RIDs to unix uid's 

# and gid's. idmap uid and idmap gid are the only required parameters.

#

# winbind separator is the character a user must use between their domain

# name and username, defaults to "\"

;  winbind separator = +

#

# winbind use default domain allows you to have winbind return usernames

# in the form user instead of DOMAIN+user for the domain listed in the

# workgroup parameter.

;  winbind use default domain = yes

#

# template homedir determines the home directory for winbind users, with 

# %D expanding to their domain name and %U expanding to their username:

;  template homedir = /home/%D/%U

# When using winbind, you may want to have samba create home directories

# on the fly for authenticated users. Ensure that /etc/pam.d/samba is

# using 'service=system-auth-winbind' in pam_stack modules, and then

# enable obedience of pam restrictions below:

;  obey pam restrictions = yes

#

# template shell determines the shell users authenticated by winbind get

;  template shell = /bin/bash

# 5. Browser Control and Networking Options:

# Most people will find that this option gives better performance.

# See speed.txt and the manual pages for details

   socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=32768 SO_SNDBUF=32768

# Configure Samba to use multiple interfaces

# If you have multiple network interfaces then you must list them

# here. See the man page for details.

;   interfaces = 192.168.12.2/24 192.168.13.2/24 

# Configure remote browse list synchronisation here

#  request announcement to, or browse list sync from:

#       a specific host or from / to a whole subnet (see below)

;   remote browse sync = 192.168.3.25 192.168.5.255

# Cause this host to announce itself to local subnets here

;   remote announce = 192.168.1.255 192.168.2.44

# set local master to no if you don't want Samba to become a master

# browser on your network. Otherwise the normal election rules apply

;   local master = no

# OS Level determines the precedence of this server in master browser

# elections. The default value should be reasonable

   os level = 64

# Domain Master specifies Samba to be the Domain Master Browser. This

# allows Samba to collate browse lists between subnets. Don't use this

# if you already have a Windows NT domain controller doing this job

;   domain master = no 

# Preferred Master causes Samba to force a local browser election on startup

# and gives it a slightly higher chance of winning the election

;   preferred master = yes

# 6. Domain Control Options:

# Enable this if you want Samba to be a domain logon server for 

# Windows95 workstations or Primary Domain Controller for WinNT and Win2k

;   domain logons = yes

# if you enable domain logons then you may want a per-machine or

# per user logon script

# run a specific logon batch file per workstation (machine)

;   logon script = %m.bat

# run a specific logon batch file per username

;   logon script = %U.bat

# Where to store roaming profiles for WinNT and Win2k

#        %L substitutes for this servers netbios name, %U is username

#        You must uncomment the [Profiles] share below

;   logon path = \\%L\Profiles\%U

# Where to store roaming profiles for Win9x. Be careful with this as it also

# impacts where Win2k finds it's /HOME share

; logon home = \\%L\%U\.profile

# The add user script is used by a domain member to add local user accounts

# that have been authenticated by the domain controller, or when adding

# users via the Windows NT Tools (ie User Manager for Domains).

# Scripts for file (passwd, smbpasswd) backend:

; add user script = /usr/sbin/useradd -s /bin/false '%u'

; delete user script = /usr/sbin/userdel '%s'

; add user to group script = /usr/bin/gpasswd -a '%u' '%g'

; delete user from group script = /usr/bin/gpasswd -d '%u' '%g'

; set primary group script = /usr/sbin/usermod -g '%g' '%u'

; add group script = /usr/sbin/groupadd %g && getent group '%g'|awk -F: '{print $3}'

; delete group script = /usr/sbin/groupdel '%g'

# Scripts for LDAP backend (assumes nss_ldap is in use on the domain controller.

# Needs IDEALX scripts, and configuration in smbldap_conf.pm.

# This assumes you've installed the IDEALX scripts into /usr/share/samba/scripts...

; add user script = /usr/share/samba/scripts/smbldap-useradd.pl '%u'

; delete user script = /usr/share/samba/scripts/smbldap-userdel.pl '%u'

; add user to group script = /usr/share/samba/scripts/smbldap-groupmod.pl -m '%u' '%g'

; delete user from group script = /usr/share/samba/scripts/smbldap-groupmod.pl -x '%u' '%g'

; set primary group script = /usr/share/samba/scripts/smbldap-usermod.pl -g '%g' '%u'

; add group script = /usr/share/samba/scripts/smbldap-groupadd.pl '%g' && /usr/share/samba/scripts/smbldap-groupshow.pl %g|awk '/^gidNumber:/ {print $2}'

; delete group script = /usr/share/samba/scripts/smbldap-userdel.pl '%g'

# The add machine script is use by a samba server configured as a domain

# controller to add local machine accounts when adding machines to the domain.

# The script must work from the command line when replacing the macros,

# or the operation will fail. Check that groups exist if forcing a group.

# Script for domain controller for adding machines:

; add machine script = /usr/sbin/useradd -d /dev/null -g machines -c 'Machine Account' -s /bin/false '%u'

# Script for domain controller with LDAP backend for adding machines (You need

# the IDEALX scripts, and to configure the smbldap_conf.pm first):

; add machine script = /usr/share/samba/scripts/smbldap-useradd.pl -w -d /dev/null -g machines -c 'Machine Account' -s /bin/false '%u'

# Domain groups:

# Domain groups are now configured by using the 'net groupmap' tool

# Samba Password Database configuration:

# Samba now has runtime-configurable password database backends.

# smbpasswd is for backwards compatibility only Default (not recommended),

# new installations should use tdbsam or ldap.

; passdb backend = smbpasswd

# TDB backend 

; passdb backend = tdbsam

# LDAP with fallback to smbpasswd guest

# Enable SSL by using an ldaps url, or enable tls with 'ldap ssl' below.

; passdb backend = ldapsam:ldaps://ldap.mydomain.com

# Use the samba2 LDAP schema:

; passdb backend = ldapsam_compat:ldaps://ldap.mydomain.com

# idmap uid account range:

# This is a range of unix user-id's that samba will map non-unix RIDs to,

# such as when using Winbind

; idmap uid = 10000-20000

; idmap gid = 10000-20000

  

# LDAP configuration for Domain Controlling:

# The account (dn) that samba uses to access the LDAP server

# This account needs to have write access to the LDAP tree

# You will need to give samba the password for this dn, by 

# running 'smbpasswd -w mypassword'

; ldap admin dn = cn=root,dc=mydomain,dc=com

; ldap ssl = start_tls

# start_tls should run on 389, but samba defaults incorrectly to 636

; ldap port = 389

; ldap suffix = dc=mydomain,dc=com

; ldap server = ldap.mydomain.com

# Seperate suffixes are available for machines, users, groups, and idmap, if 

# ldap suffix appears first, it is appended to the specific suffix.

# Example for a unix-ish directory layout:

; ldap machine suffix = ou=Hosts

; ldap user suffix = ou=People

; ldap group suffix = ou=Group

; ldap idmap suffix = ou=Idmap

# Example for AD-ish layout:

; ldap machine suffix = cn=Computers

; ldap user suffix = cn=Users

; ldap group suffix = cn=Groups

; ldap idmap suffix = cn=Idmap

# 7. Name Resolution Options:

# All NetBIOS names must be resolved to IP Addresses

# 'Name Resolve Order' allows the named resolution mechanism to be specified

# the default order is "host lmhosts wins bcast". "host" means use the unix

# system gethostbyname() function call that will use either /etc/hosts OR

# DNS or NIS depending on the settings of /etc/host.config, /etc/nsswitch.conf

# and the /etc/resolv.conf file. "host" therefore is system configuration

# dependant. This parameter is most often of use to prevent DNS lookups

# in order to resolve NetBIOS names to IP Addresses. Use with care!

# The example below excludes use of name resolution for machines that are NOT

# on the local network segment

# - OR - are not deliberately to be known via lmhosts or via WINS.

; name resolve order = wins host lmhosts bcast

# Windows Internet Name Serving Support Section:

# WINS Support - Tells the NMBD component of Samba to enable it's WINS Server

;   wins support = yes

# WINS Server - Tells the NMBD components of Samba to be a WINS Client

#       Note: Samba can be either a WINS Server, or a WINS Client, but NOT both

;   wins server = w.x.y.z

# WINS Proxy - Tells Samba to answer name resolution queries on

# behalf of a non WINS capable client, for this to work there must be

# at least one  WINS Server on the network. The default is NO.

;   wins proxy = yes

# DNS Proxy - tells Samba whether or not to try to resolve NetBIOS names

# via DNS nslookups. The built-in default for versions 1.9.17 is yes,

# this has been changed in version 1.9.18 to no.

   dns proxy = no 

# 8. File Naming Options:

# Case Preservation can be handy - system default is _no_

# NOTE: These can be set on a per share basis

;  preserve case = no

;  short preserve case = no

# Default case is normally upper case for all DOS files

;  default case = lower

# Be very careful with case sensitivity - it can break things!

;  case sensitive = no

# Enabling internationalization:

# you can match a Windows code page with a UNIX character set.

# Windows: 437 (US), 737 (GREEK), 850 (Latin1 - Western European),

# 852 (Czech), 861 (???), 932 (Japanese),

# 936 (Simplified Chin.), 949 (Korean Hangul),

# 950 (Trad. Chin.).

# More detail about code page is in

# "http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/reference/oslocversion.mspx"

# UNIX: ISO8859-1 (Western European), ISO8859-2 (Eastern Eu.),

# ISO8859-5 (Russian Cyrillic), KOI8-R (Alt-Russ. Cyril.)

# This is an example for french users:

;   dos charset = 850

;   unix charset = ISO8859-1

#============================ Share Definitions ==============================

;[homes]

;   comment = Home Directories

;   browseable = yes

;   writable = yes

# You can enable VFS recycle bin on a per share basis:

# Uncomment the next 2 lines (make sure you create a

# .recycle folder in the base of the share and ensure

# all users will have write access to it. See

# examples/VFS/recycle/REAME in the samba docs for details

;   vfs object = /usr/lib/samba/vfs/recycle.so

# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain Logons

; [netlogon]

;   comment = Network Logon Service

;   path = /var/lib/samba/netlogon

;   guest ok = yes

;   writable = no

# Un-comment the following to provide a specific roving profile share

# the default is to use the user's home directory

;[Profiles]

;    path = /var/lib/samba/profiles

;    browseable = no

;    guest ok = yes

# This script can be enabled to create profile directories on the fly

# You may want to turn off guest acces if you enable this, as it

# hasn't been thoroughly tested.

;root preexec = PROFILE=/var/lib/samba/profiles/%u; if [ ! -e $PROFILE ]; \

;                then mkdir -pm700 $PROFILE; chown %u:%g $PROFILE;fi

# NOTE: If you have a CUPS print system there is no need to 

# specifically define each individual printer.

# You must configure the samba printers with the appropriate Windows

# drivers on your Windows clients. On the Samba server no filtering is

# done. If you wish that the server provides the driver and the clients

# send PostScript ("Generic PostScript Printer" under Windows), you have

# to swap the 'print command' line below with the commented one.

;[printers]

;   comment = All Printers

;   path = /var/spool/samba

;   browseable = no

# set to yes to allow user 'guest account' to print.

;   guest ok = no

;   writable = no

;   printable = yes

# This share is used for Windows NT-style point-and-print support.

# To be able to install drivers, you need to be either root, or listed

# in the printer admin parameter above. Note that you also need write access

# to the directory and share definition to be able to upload the drivers.

# For more information on this, please see the Printing Support Section of

# /usr/share/doc/samba-<version>/Samba-HOWTO-Collection.pdf 

;[print$]

;   path = /var/lib/samba/printers

;   browseable = yes

;   read only = yes

;   write list = @adm root

;   guest ok = yes

# This one is useful for people to share files

;[tmp]

;   comment = Temporary file space

;   path = /tmp

;   read only = no

;   public = yes

# A publicly accessible directory, but read only, except for people in

# the "staff" group

[public-D]

   comment = Public-D

   path = /media/D

   public = yes

   writable = yes

#   write list = @root

[public-C]

   comment = Public-C

   path = /media/C

   public = yes

   writable = yes

   write list = @root

```

----------

## gentoo_ram

Is this over a LAN?  If so, I would reduce those buffer sizes.  Large buffer sizes like that are good over high latency links, but over low latency LAN links they can cause a problem.  Lower the SO_RCVBUF=32768 SO_SNDBUF=32768 to something more like 4096 or maybe 8192.

If that doesn't help, there could be disk contention issues on either the sending or receiving computer.  With my buffers set to 8192 I get about 25 MB/sec max over a gigabit ethernet link.  SMB isn't especially fast.

----------

## clouds222

It's on a LAN, managed by a home GW router.

I used set to 8192. But seems not much differance. I've tested the performance of SATA2 disk attached, the speed is over 150MB/s. so I think it's not the HDD issue.

I still think if it is caused by the router, but I found there is nothing to set except the IP and DNS related.

----------

## drescherjm

 *Quote:*   

> I've tested the performance of SATA2 disk attached, the speed is over 150MB/s. 

 

Is this one of the new 3TB 7200 RPM drives?  There are only like 3 sata hard drives in existence that break the 150 MB/s barrier. Or is the source a raid array?

Edit: Although with that said even if the drive does 100 to 120 MB/s max I do not think that will make 700 KB /s transfers unless the drive has bad or hard to read sectors.

----------

## kimmie

How are you copying, ie. which client?

I've found the cifs kernel module (ie. using mount.cifs) to suffer from performance issues (sometimes only in one direction) with various kernel/samba versions. Never pinned it down, it's come and gone over a few years. Fiddling with socket options has never helped much. Your question seems to pop up regularly (but not often) on these forums.

Do you get decent performance with smbclient, or with gnome/nautilus?

Have you tried adding "use sendfile = yes" to your configuration?

----------

## clouds222

I copy files from a Windows XP clients via Windows explore.

The server NIC is Intel 82567LM.

----------

## olger901

Could you try connecting your PC or laptop directly to the server (thus without any switch or router) between it using a cross-over cable and test it? This way you can be sure that it's not a switch or router which is interfering.

----------

## clouds222

I connect directly to the server and get a faster speed. about 10MBps, compares to original lower than 1MBps.

The server is connected to a 10/100MB switch, and then connected to a router. but my PCs are directly connected to router.

I've tried:

1: connect the PC to the switch, where the server is connected, and the speed is about 10MBps.

2: connect the server directly to the server, where the PCs are connected, and the speed is about 10MBps.

So, can anyone help to tell the reason? I'm not firmiliar with the switch technology details.

Another question, is the 10MBps speed reasonable or still slow?

----------

## clouds222

Oh, Sorry! I forgot that 10MBps reaches my router BW limit.

But still don't know why the speed is lower than 1MBps via a switch connected to router.

----------

## krinn

you need also crossover cable to connect a switch->switch or you need a switch that use autosense to detect the cable type in use or you need a switch with one dedicated port for uplink.

If the switch isn't autosensing it, the cable isn't plug in the uplink port, the cable is damage, the cable shield is too small... all can slower your transfer as the infos need lot of re-send query to get valid fragments.

you can test your cable by plugin the one that link the router->switch to a computer and look at ifconfig for errors, drop, underruns, frame > 0 while downloading something

But until MS open the format, i'm afraid samba speed only just sucks, that's a shame for windows users.

----------

