# Slow file copying from SAMBA server

## thunderrd

I have just set up samba on my gentoo install.  I need to be able to copy to and from the shares on the linux box, from the Win 7 client machine.  From the windows machine everything looks OK, I can see the shares on the server and I am able to browse the shares, and I am able to copy to and from the shares from the client.

My problem is that the speeds of copying are quite slow, especially when copying *from* the shares.  In this direction files copy at about 135KB/sec.  Copying *to* the shares, the files move at around 5MB/sec.  This seems slow as well, but is tolerable.  The other direction it's simply unusable.

I am the only user, so security is not an issue.  I am interested only in improving the transfer speed.

This is my first experience with samba, so I need some help.  What information should I provide to aid in troubleshooting?  My smb.conf is here:

```
# This is the main Samba configuration file. You should read the

# smb.conf(5) manual page in order to understand the options listed

# here. Samba has a huge number of configurable options (perhaps too

# many!) most of which are not shown in this example

#

# For a step to step guide on installing, configuring and using samba, 

# read the Samba-HOWTO-Collection. This may be obtained from:

#  http://www.samba.org/samba/docs/Samba-HOWTO-Collection.pdf

#

# Many working examples of smb.conf files can be found in the 

# Samba-Guide which is generated daily and can be downloaded from: 

#  http://www.samba.org/samba/docs/Samba-Guide.pdf

#

# Any line which starts with a ; (semi-colon) or a # (hash) 

# is a comment and is ignored. In this example we will use a #

# for commentry and a ; for parts of the config file that you

# may wish to enable

#

# NOTE: Whenever you modify this file you should run the command "testparm"

# to check that you have not made any basic syntactic errors. 

#

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

[global]

# workgroup = NT-Domain-Name or Workgroup-Name, eg: MIDEARTH

   workgroup = RBZGROUP

# server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field

   server string = Gentoo Samba Server

# Security mode. Defines in which mode Samba will operate. Possible 

# values are share, user, server, domain and ads. Most people will want 

# user level security. See the Samba-HOWTO-Collection for details.

   security = share

# 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

;   hosts allow = 192.168.1. 192.168.2. 127.

   hosts allow = 192.168.1.

# If you want to automatically load your printer list rather

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

;   load printers = yes

# you may wish to override the location of the printcap file

;   printcap name = /etc/printcap

# on SystemV system setting printcap name to lpstat should allow

# you to automatically obtain a printer list from the SystemV spool

# system

;   printcap name = lpstat

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

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

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

;   printing = cups

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

# otherwise the user "nobody" is used

;  guest account = pcguest

# 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

# Use password server option only with security = server

# The argument list may include:

#   password server = My_PDC_Name [My_BDC_Name] [My_Next_BDC_Name]

# or to auto-locate the domain controller/s

#   password server = *

;   password server = <NT-Server-Name>

# Use the realm option only with security = ads

# Specifies the Active Directory realm the host is part of

;   realm = MY_REALM

# Backend to store user information in. New installations should 

# use either tdbsam or ldapsam. smbpasswd is available for backwards 

# compatibility. tdbsam requires no further configuration.

;   passdb backend = tdbsam

# 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.

# Note: Consider carefully the location in the configuration file of

#       this line.  The included file is read at that point.

;   include = /etc/samba/smb.conf.%m

# 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 

# Browser Control Options:

# 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 = 33

# 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 = yes 

# 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

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

# Windows95 workstations. 

;   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 roving profiles (only for Win95 and WinNT)

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

#        You must uncomment the [Profiles] share below

;   logon path = \\%L\Profiles\%U

# 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 default is NO.

   dns proxy = yes 

# These scripts are used on a domain controller or stand-alone 

# machine to add or delete corresponding unix accounts

;  add user script = /usr/sbin/useradd %u

;  add group script = /usr/sbin/groupadd %g

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

;  delete user script = /usr/sbin/userdel %u

;  delete user from group script = /usr/sbin/deluser %u %g

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

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

[homes]

   comment = Home Directories

   browseable = no

   writable = yes

# 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

;   share modes = 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

# NOTE: If you have a BSD-style print system there is no need to 

# specifically define each individual printer

[printers]

   comment = All Printers

   path = /var/spool/samba

   browseable = no

# Set public = yes to allow user 'guest account' to print

   guest ok = no

   writable = no

   printable = 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]

;   comment = Public Stuff

;   path = /home/samba

;   public = yes

;   writable = yes

;   printable = no

;   write list = @staff

# Other examples. 

#

# A private printer, usable only by fred. Spool data will be placed in fred's

# home directory. Note that fred must have write access to the spool directory,

# wherever it is.

;[fredsprn]

;   comment = Fred's Printer

;   valid users = fred

;   path = /homes/fred

;   printer = freds_printer

;   public = no

;   writable = no

;   printable = yes

# A private directory, usable only by fred. Note that fred requires write

# access to the directory.

;[fredsdir]

;   comment = Fred's Service

;   path = /usr/somewhere/private

;   valid users = fred

;   public = no

;   writable = yes

;   printable = no

# a service which has a different directory for each machine that connects

# this allows you to tailor configurations to incoming machines. You could

# also use the %U option to tailor it by user name.

# The %m gets replaced with the machine name that is connecting.

;[pchome]

;  comment = PC Directories

;  path = /usr/pc/%m

;  public = no

;  writable = yes

# A publicly accessible directory, read/write to all users. Note that all files

# created in the directory by users will be owned by the default user, so

# any user with access can delete any other user's files. Obviously this

# directory must be writable by the default user. Another user could of course

# be specified, in which case all files would be owned by that user instead.

;[public]

;   path = /usr/somewhere/else/public

;   public = yes

;   only guest = yes

;   writable = yes

;   printable = no

# The following two entries demonstrate how to share a directory so that two

# users can place files there that will be owned by the specific users. In this

# setup, the directory should be writable by both users and should have the

# sticky bit set on it to prevent abuse. Obviously this could be extended to

# as many users as required.

;[myshare]

;   comment = Mary's and Fred's stuff

;   path = /usr/somewhere/shared

;   valid users = mary fred

;   public = no

;   writable = yes

;   printable = no

;   create mask = 0765

#++++++++++++++++Shares on OPTERON-185++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[ext3_REPO]

   comment = 160GB_SATA_/sda

   path = /mnt/ext3_REPO

   public = yes

   only guest = yes

   writable = yes

;   printable = no

[ext3_STORAGE]

   comment = 250GB_SATA_/sdb

   path = /mnt/ext3_STORAGE

   public = yes

   only guest = yes

   writable = yes

;   printable = no

[FAH6]

   comment = SMP_directory

   path = /home/thunderrd/FAH6

   public = yes

   only guest = yes

   writable = yes

;   printable = no

```

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## Sum1

I'm curious to see what would happen if you try the following:

Please go to winscp.net and download the windows gui for *nix scp and see what transfer speed you get when copying a large file (preferrably like a 700MB - 1.5GB iso file) from Samba server, and also to Samba server.

And it would also be helpful to know the specs. of your samba server box:  Opteron-1885 | RAM | Hard Drive type | Nic(s).

And also the version of Samba you are using.

I need to re-read the "security = share" feature and see if it has any gotchas.

Most situations where someone is using samba as a standalone server and not a true domain controller, the common setting is "security = user".

Also try putting the following parameters into your shares

oplocks = true

level2 oplocks = true

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