(very) slow network

[Zenex0]

ok, this is kinda hard to explain, since i have no idea whats wrong. i have a small win2k network with a linux file server. i got the system installed fine (PPro 200mhz, 128ram), set up samba, and everything worked fine (even when i tried making a windows domain with samba... very cool stuff). linux in general has been very stable and smooth - my current uptime is 47 days.

lately, i've been having trouble connecting to the system. i manage it through ssh (its set up as a headless box), which continues to work perfectly. however, when i try to copy a file through windows, the windows system freezes (doesn’t crash, just freezes). i had no idea what was going on for a while, but after days of tinkering, i figured out that if i connect to it through apache and try to download a file, it goes at 15KB/s. this is on a 10Mbps network.

extra facts:
- runs gentoo 1.4
- is set up with a public ip address, although my network is on a private set (10.x.x.x). this worked perfectly before.
- id rather not reboot the box (to keep the high uptime so i can show it off to windows people)
- my dsl's upload cap is 15KB/s. im not sure if this has anything to do with it, but hey...

any help would be appreciated. i've spent two weeks trying to fix this.

[x]

This was a tricky one!
I don't have a solution for you, but let's discuss it.
Firts, does it happen only when you're connected to the internet?
I'm wondering if you might have an intruder?
I would need some more info about your network:
How many computers do you have?
How are they connected?
Access-point to internet, is that the Linux-box or a separate router or something?
Do you have this problem between all machines, have you tried win-> linux, win -> win, linux -> win etc? If you only have 2 computers, could you borrow a third, just to see if there ia a problem with one of your computers.
You should also keep track on the network-traffic, there are several programs for that purpose.

To cheer you up, I can tell you this can be caused by almost anything - a faulty fixed disc can block the CD, wrong voltage on the CPU once gave me about the same problem as you have...
:D

[Hayl]

do a "ps -A | grep nmbd" as well as a "ps -A | grep smbd" to see how many instances of the Samba daemons are running.

[kam]

Maybe your network cables run by some interference.

[bastard23]

Zenex0,
Maybe you're routing over your DSL link. What is the output from "traceroute <your server>" from another internal host. How fast are other transfers ("scp server:~/big_file")? Any errors in your logs (from a firewall or anything?)

Good Luck,
chris

[Zenex0]

i should have mentioned that all connections to/from the internet, and to/from other computers on the network work perfectly. i get around 100KB/s internet downloads, and 10Mbps network transfers. the only problem is transferring to/from the linux server, which never goes over 17KB/s. i don't think it has anything to do with samba at all.

the way the network is set up now is like this:


Hub1
Workstation 1 (winXP) - 10.6.1.X
Workstation 2 (win2k) - 10.6.1.X
Workstation 3 (win2k) - 10.6.1.X
DSL Modem - 10.6.1.X
Hub2



Hub2
Workstation 4 (mandrake9) - 10.6.1.X
Linux Server (gentoo) - public ip


the dhcp server is running on the DSL modem, and my dsl provider allows two static IPs (one that is fixed to the modem itself, and one for use on any workstation (or server).

also, i don't seem to have traceroute on my mdk system... wierd.

whoops, yes it does. i have to be root.

[root@z-wks-1 /]# traceroute zserv
traceroute to zserv (x.x.x.53), 30 hops max, 38 byte packets
1 dsl-x-x-x-54.telocity.com (x.x.x.54) 1.589 ms 1.469 ms
2 zserv (x.x.x.53) 2.586 ms 2.357 ms 2.303 ms

where x.x.x.53 is my linux server(zserv) and x.x.x.54 is the dsl modem public ip

[bastard23]

Zenex0,
Things are probably a little wrong. All the traffic to the linux server is going over your DSL link. This is because the other machines only know of the 10.6.1.0/24 network. Everything else goes to your gateway, up DSL, then back down to zserv.

A quick fix is to add an IP address (man ifconfig, or appropriate distro config) to zserv in the 10.6.1.0/24 network. Then have all of the other machines use that IP address (10.6.1.254 or somesuch) to talk to zserv. Then it shouldn't get routed over the DSL.

I don't know how gentoo manages the network interfaces, but here is an ifconfig that adds an alias IP address to eth0.

ifconfig eth0:1 10.6.1.254 netmask 255.255.255.0 up

If you want to discuss other ways to setup the network, please post again. (Or if the above doesn't work.) Your setup is little different.

Good Luck,
chris

[jumpedintothefire]

Sounds like the cap on the dsl modem might be it, you have to go though it to get to the the public ip on the gentoo box....

As a test try adding a second ip address to the gentoo box that is on the 10.6.1.x network and access it using this new ip. See if this results in a speed increase.

Edit... Man I need to remember to hit the post button, before I leave the machine..... ;)

[Zenex0]

heres what ifconfig spits out now:
eth0:1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:A0:0C:C1:D7:69
inet addr:10.6.1.254 Bcast:10.255.255.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MTU:1500 Metric:1
Interrupt:17 Base address:0xd800

the server can ping itself at that address, but thats about it. the workstations dont see it at all, only the public address. am i doing this wrong?

would it be effective to just use the servers connection and set up a dhcp server or something and not use the dsl modem? or is that too much work? the server does have two network cards, and im not using one of them at all.

[jumpedintothefire]

What subnetmask is the lan using?? 255.255.255.0 or 255.0.0.0.??? The broadcast is wrong for a /24 network should be 10.6.1.255...

try ifconfig eth0:1 10.6.1.254 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 10.6.1.255 up

What does route -n give you??
If you used the ifconfig command, there may not be a route to the 10.6.1.0 network. then add one...

route add -net 10.6.1.0/24 dev eth0

the /24 is the 255.255.255.0 subnetmask
if your using 255.0.0.0 then use /8

and retest...