HP N40L RAM Upgrade Question - Kingston HyperX

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  greciandelts on 18/09/2013 - 15:19

  just clarified that this will work.

  Still would like to know peoples experiences with lag between n40l and devices (xbox 360, samsung smart tv).

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  _Bruce_ on 18/09/2013 - 16:02

  What is your network like? Even the cheapest HD gets close to flooding a gigabit network. Spin up can cause some delay, but it shouldn't be much. Are sustained transfers fast?

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  greciandelts on 18/09/2013 - 16:04

  sustained transfers are pretty sluggish still tbh over wireless n.

  • 

    _Bruce_ on 18/09/2013 - 16:24

    +1

    I'd be blaming your wifi, not the server/hd. Try ethernet, see if the problem goes away.

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  greciandelts on 18/09/2013 - 16:29

  think 2gb ram is enough? any ideas on improving the wifi? using netgear dgn2200 (http://www.netgear.com.au/home/products/wirelessrouters/work…)

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    _Bruce_ on 18/09/2013 - 16:37

    Yes. Don't use Windows for a server but there is no (good) reason it should need more than this.

    Improve it with ethernet! Seriously, I avoid wifi whenever possible, so I don't know what is more terrible than others.

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      greciandelts on 18/09/2013 - 16:42

      short of running ethernet cables through the walls (currently renting, so thats not really an option), i think im stuck with ethernet over powerline… which iv had bad experiences in the past with.

      the tv in the lounge room is ethernet into the router (as is the server) and this is where most of the lag is being experienced, thats what led me to the RAM or HDD RPM issue. i think the 1.5tb may be 5400 but id have to double check. Im assuming this rules out the wifi suggestion or am i missing something?

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        _Bruce_ on 18/09/2013 - 16:48

        As mentioned earlier, repeat your tests on ethernet and see if you still have a problem. Note that for playing videos 'lag' doesn't actually matter much, you are only interested in throughput, and any HD will be just fine.

        You can check memory using under Windows, maybe something is going crazy?

        You can boot a linux live CD, rule out Windows all together. I'd be very surprised if the hardware is the problem.

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        greciandelts on 18/09/2013 - 16:49

        its not so much lag, but the time to takes for the shared folders to load on each media device

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        tonyjzx on 18/09/2013 - 16:59

        +1

        wont really help at all

        i have a N40 with high end 7,200rpm drives in it

        the drives have benched over 100mb/sec on fast pcs

        there's a lag when scanning folders as there's a lot of overhead in the file system, number of files, the slow sata2 bus, the slow AMD cpu/architecture etc.

        i'm on an i7 over a gbe network on the same switch to the N40

        put it this way, even high end servers at work running sas shows similar behaviour unless you really want to spend money

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        _Bruce_ on 18/09/2013 - 19:20

        greciandelts/tonyjzx: Try a Linux Live CD. In my experience Windows is amazingly bad at Windows networking (as strange as that sounds). Samba is the greatest thing ever.

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    evol on 18/09/2013 - 18:31

    +1

    Shared folders usually take a while to load/display, even on enterprise gear, especially if you have a whole bunch of folders too.

    If your transfers are slow, I would blame your Netgear DGN2200. I have a similar shape Netgear WNDR3700 and I think the internal design of these Netgears is rubbish - mine struggles to put out a strong signal even when I'm right next to it.

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      _Bruce_ on 18/09/2013 - 19:22

      I'm just running a 2G Ram Core 2 Duo and the response is great. I would have to benchmark to tell the difference between the network and local drive.

      Of note, I am running Samba, not Windows server.

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      greciandelts on 19/09/2013 - 08:46

      cheers mate, good insight