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I'm storing my data (pictures and 4k video files) on a NAS using SATA II HDDs. In my opinion SSDs are not a good choice for just data storing as they are more expensive and with the time SSD could have more (partial) failure. Maybe I'm wrong with that.

My LAN-network has - although using CAT 7 cable - a data transfer rate of only 1 Gbit/s, as my workstation (iMac) does not support 10Gbit/s. But even if my workstation would support 10Gbit/s, it would not help, as my SATA HDDs gives me theoretical 2,4 Gbit/s.

So my question is how could I improve my setting at all in this context? Just get fast access to my NAS data. Is a 10Gbit/s access to my NAS data possible or useful at all?

user3142695
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  • 10Gbit/s is possible, just not with your setup _(many users & businesses run FreeNAS in a 10Gbit/s environment)_. 10Gbit/s is 1.25GB/s, so you need PCIe SSDs to take full advantage of it or a SSD that can use RAM at the bit level _(Samsung's RAPID mode for example)_. Consumer-level 7200RPM HDDs will generally always be in the ~160GB/s range give or take a few GB. SATA2 is limited to <300MB/s & you could reach that speed with SAS drives _(requires a SAS controller and SAS compatible backplane)_. Final piece would be a 10Gbit router or motherboard with 10Gbit functionality running a router OS. – JW0914 Dec 10 '19 at 23:53
  • Of course most NASes will also let you combine the speed (as well as the capacity) of multple drives with some form RAID to reach a performance beyond that of an individual drive. – StarCat Dec 11 '19 at 11:58
  • @StarCat So with the current setup I could nearly get 1Gbit/s just using a RAID array? – user3142695 Dec 11 '19 at 13:35
  • I assume you mean 10Gbit/s. Theoretically yes. But pushing a Gigabyte or more per second asks a lot of all the components in your system(s), i.e. not only network and disks, but also CPU, memory, PCIe buses and OS, filesystem and software efficiency. A single weaker component could become a bottleneck. – StarCat Dec 11 '19 at 13:54
  • @StarCat No, I really mean 1Gbit/s. As you explained, a 10Gbit infrastructure is not too easy to create. I decided to get my 1Gbit-Infrastructure well done. Because my Sata II HDD will give me 300 Mbit/s, I would like to optimize that - if it is possible. If I understand you correctly, I could get 1Gbit by using a RAID with multiple Sata HDDs – user3142695 Dec 11 '19 at 18:12

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