Very slow FFS sync speed via SMB (no issues with sftp)

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Posts: 2
Joined: 26 May 2023

Mike29

Hi all,

I'm having a speed issue with an FSS sync job and would highly appreciate some help.

I'm syncing a local folder of pictures (approx. 5.000 Folders, 80.000 files) on a Windows 11 Desktop PC with a Synology NAS within the same local network (two-way sync). The NAS folder is connected as a network drive via SMB3 on Windows 11. I haven't changed this sync job or my setup recently, but since about 4-6 weeks I experience severe performance issues with the comparison taking 10-12 minutes, even if no file changes happened. Before it was 30 seconds max.

Trying to debug this issue I found, that setting up a new FFS job using sftp, it works at even higher speed than before, taking only about 10-15 seconds for comparison. So, obviously a hardware issue on the PC, network, or NAS side can be ruled out, but the issue seems to be with FFS in combination with SMB and the NAS. I remember that I ran an FFS update to 12.2 some weeks ago, and now I updated to 12.3. But did anything change in FFS regarding SMB handling?

I would prefer to stick with SMB and not to switch to sftp, so still try to find the root cause for my issue. Any ideas?

Many thanks in advance,
Mike
Posts: 936
Joined: 8 May 2006

therube

I haven't changed this sync job or my setup recently
Though most likely the (Synology) DSM did update during the time period.
Review the DSM release notes for your NAS & see if anything might stand out?

(For instance, https://www.synology.com/en-us/releaseNote/DSM?model=DS218%2B.)


(Oh, & aside from the NAS end, Windows, current Windows, no telling what might happen any given day.)
Posts: 936
Joined: 8 May 2006

therube

You might also test, setting up a New sync job, using the same settings as existing, & see if New performs any differently?

LeoW

Have you tried SFTPFS?

SFTPFS is a FUSE filesystem that provides access to an SFTP server as a local filesystem. This means that you can access files on an SFTP server as if they were located on your local machine. SFTPFS is a great way to access files on remote servers without having to use a separate SSH client.

To use SFTPFS, you need to have the SFTPFS binary installed. You can install SFTPFS on most Linux distributions using your package manager. Once you have installed SFTPFS, you can mount an SFTP server as a local filesystem by running the following command:

sftpfs <username>@<hostname>:<path> .

sftpfs myuser@myserver:/home/myuser .


the software installs in two minutes on Linux and on Windows it's a little bit more complicated that I would need to explain in further detail if it should be necessary.
Posts: 2
Joined: 26 May 2023

Mike29

Hello and many thanks for your replies!
You might also test, setting up a New sync job, using the same settings as existing, & see if New performs any differently? therube, 26 May 2023, 16:12
Tried that, but unfortunately it didn't have any effect.
(Oh, & aside from the NAS end, Windows, current Windows, no telling what might happen any given day.) therube, 26 May 2023, 15:55
I spent several hours browsing the internet for Windows 11 issues with SMB and indeed found a lot of reports. Seems like Windows 11 has several known SMB issues, many of which should have been fixed with recent updates. But found a lot of users still experiencing problems like me.

I learned that resetting my network settings leads to a SMB sync with FFS at full speed again (at first). But after an indefenite amount of time (several minutes to hours) the sync speed is back at the extremely slow level as described. No matter if i worked on the PC in the meantime or it was just idling. So I strongly suspect Windows 11 to be the issue here, but could not narrow it down so far.
Have you tried SFTPFS? LeoW, 30 May 2023, 06:50
Haven't tried that yet, but I found SSHFS-Win during my research, which seems to be similar. SFTP would be my fall back solution, as it operates at full speed with my config and FFS. I just wonder what caused the SMB issues approx. 6 weeks ago, as it worked like a charm until then... :-/

LeoW

I made a mistake with file name it's sshfs NOT SFTPFS.

I also use the windows version you mentioned.