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  1. #1

    SATA disk transfer speed is very slow

    Hello,

    I'v used hdparm -tT /dev/sda3 to test transfer speed of a SATA disk in a server(Q9300 8GB 1TB STAT2,CENTOS5.4 32bit), but I got a very slow result for 9.36 MB/sec below:

    hdparm -tT /dev/sda3:
    Timing cached reads: 8052 MB in 2.00 seconds = 4027.18 MB/sec
    Timing buffered disk reads: 30 MB in 3.21 seconds = 9.36 MB/sec


    In another server, I got a result for 86.41 MB/sec (Q9300 4GB 1TB STAT2,CENTOS5.3 32bit):

    hdparm -tT /dev/sda3

    /dev/sda3:
    Timing cached reads: 7680 MB in 2.00 seconds = 3843.47 MB/sec
    Timing buffered disk reads: 260 MB in 3.01 seconds = 86.41 MB/sec


    Is there anyone know why this happened and how to increase the speed of disk of the first server?
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  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Maybe the disk is bad or one of the power or sata cables.
    Let your hosting provider have a look at it for you.
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    46
    To get accurate results, the machine must be idle. Was there disk activity going on while you tested your disk ? Use vmstat/dstat to look at disk transfers.

    If there is disk activity, stop all processes that might be responsible until there is at most only occasional bursts of 10s of KB written to disk and restart your test.

    If there isn't disk activity and you still get this kind of transfer speed, tell your hosting provider about it.

  4. #4
    OP:

    Either a bad drive, cable or controller... or driver, I guess.

    This is why I like RAID-10 (4 disk array):

    hdparm -tT /dev/md0

    /dev/md0:
    Timing cached reads: 11672 MB in 2.00 seconds = 5839.79 MB/sec
    Timing buffered disk reads: 722 MB in 3.03 seconds = 238.63 MB/sec

  5. #5
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  6. #6
    As said by "gyver", the disk should be in idle state when you perform the tests to get the accurate results. If the disk was in idle state and result is the same as you stated, then better as your hosting provider OR the Data Center Enggs to take a look at it.
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  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Posts
    3,110
    The disk probably isnt running in native mode in the bios, OR it's a bad SATA cable. Have your DC swap it out

  8. #8
    Thanks everyone, the hosting provider bring the server down and testing the hard driver right now.
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  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by macroz View Post
    Thanks everyone, the hosting provider bring the server down and testing the hard driver right now.
    Replaced the motherboard and works:

    hdparm -t /dev/sda3

    /dev/sda3:
    Timing buffered disk reads: 120 MB in 3.13 seconds = 38.35 MB/sec


    # hdparm -t /dev/sda2

    /dev/sda2:
    Timing buffered disk reads: 236 MB in 3.06 seconds = 77.03 MB/sec
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  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Posts
    584
    wow, is this normal for us?

    hdparm -tT /dev/sda8

    /dev/sda8:
    Timing cached reads: 17568 MB in 2.00 seconds = 8803.90 MB/sec
    Timing buffered disk reads: 246 MB in 3.07 seconds = 80.24 MB/sec


    We have 15K SAS drives X4 with 256mb hardware RAID 10


    80.24 MB/sec seems very slow???


    How to detect whether there is a bad drive on RAID 10 disk array?
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  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
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    632
    Quote Originally Posted by Peter-SexyWing View Post
    wow, is this normal for us?

    hdparm -tT /dev/sda8

    /dev/sda8:
    Timing cached reads: 17568 MB in 2.00 seconds = 8803.90 MB/sec
    Timing buffered disk reads: 246 MB in 3.07 seconds = 80.24 MB/sec


    We have 15K SAS drives X4 with 256mb hardware RAID 10


    80.24 MB/sec seems very slow???


    How to detect whether there is a bad drive on RAID 10 disk array?
    not sure how much your disks were loaded during tests, but it looks slow.
    e.g. you can get ~100MB/s on newer SATA disks without any RAID setup, while they are idling.

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