NAS advice on speed and security

Goof

Goof

Goof

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First off, I've searched and read through all the topics relating to Nas & router but didn't find much specific info on my queries. Myself and my dad have a small business and I've recently hooked up 2 machines that access the internet through a router. We both wanted access to a shared directory and rather than rely on buggy windows networking I decided to get a NAS - I've just got an el-cheapo 100MB throughput one just now until I decide on one with more speed & features.

I hooked this straight up to my router by ethernet yesterday and have my 2 machines hooked to the router via ethernet too - I got the IP address the NAS was using then setup the NAS software to link to that on a static IP (couldn't get dynamic working) and mapped the directory in My Computer.

So, I managed to get it working but have 2 queries - firstly security. Both machines have software firewalls and AV and I set up a password to the NAS drive - is this enough? Is there more I can do? Is using a static IP any less safe than dynamic?

Secondly, speed is an issue - I knew the NAS wouldn't be rapid but it took at least 2 minutes to transfer a 20MB file onto the drive. Is there any way to increase speed or is this an expected rate?

TIA :)
 
What NAS box are you using at the moment?

Goof said:
Both machines have software firewalls and AV and I set up a password to the NAS drive - is this enough? Is there more I can do? Is using a static IP any less safe than dynamic?
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Since the NAS is behind your router it's at no more risk to attack from the outside world than either of your computers realistically. Having a static IP address on it is neither here nor there in terms of security, although it is obviously much more convenient from a management point of view.


Goof said:
Secondly, speed is an issue - I knew the NAS wouldn't be rapid but it took at least 2 minutes to transfer a 20MB file onto the drive. Is there any way to increase speed or is this an expected rate?
Click to expand...

That seems pathetically slow considering all the machines are connected through the same router over ethernet.

Was that just using drag and drop from Windows onto the drive, if possible try another transfer method such as FTP just to make sure its not windows being funny.
 
Over 100mps LAN, copying 20mb takes about 10-15 seconds. Obviously something is wrong on yours. My guess firewall conflicts, I notice incredibly slow performance with firewalls although it does still eventually copy across.
 
Wij, it's an Argosy HD363N with a 7200rpm drive I stuck in it.

That was a drag and drop via the drive map - will try FTP and also check if there's any firewall issues, thanks.
 
Ok, on machine 1 running sygate firewall I've confirmed the connection is 100mbps but it still takes an age - when I try transferring it sygate shows NT Kernel & System as the only program accessing. With sygate off it's still just as slow. I can't seem to get FTP working on this machine at all (rejects username/password for some reason).

On system 2 I run zonealarm - I added the NAS's IP to the trusted zone (is this ok security wise?) and I can map the drive and get quick transfers of just 10 seconds or so on 20MB.
 
Disconnect from the net. Try disabling all firewalls, in the OS, Zonealarm, router, NAS. If it's fast then still a firewall conflict.
 
Hi Bob,

I've got windows firewall turned off and have tried turning off sygate as mentioned above (still slow). The fact that I can access ok from my other machine suggests it's not an issue with the NAS/router, no?
 
Goof said:
Hi Bob,

I've got windows firewall turned off and have tried turning off sygate as mentioned above (still slow). The fact that I can access ok from my other machine suggests it's not an issue with the NAS/router, no?
Click to expand...

That would be my thinking also.

It suggests that there is a problem with the first machine, you could try uninstalling the Sygate firewall and switching to ZoneAlarm as you know that setup works correctly on the other machine.
 
Thanks Wij, yeah, that was gonna be my next step - even though I disabled sygate I have a feeling ports could still be closed (or something).
 
Hmm, tried removing sygate and whacking on zonealarm but it didn't help any.

The connection shows at 100mbps, any ideas what else to check?
 
It is a switch and not a hub right?

You could just take the firewall off entirely if you are using a router as it's not really needed imo.
 
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sp00n - not a hub, no, just a router. Will try again without firewall but I dunno...

Zap - yeah, integrated 100mb lan - tried the cable that worked fine with the machine and still no joy.
 
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