UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

SCO Unix 5.0.5 moving to Red Hat
Intel EtherExpress Pro/100+

Newbie that just started working for a company and having an issue with transfer speeds over the network. Need to move 1.5GB of data from an old server with a single SCSI HDD to a new server with RAID 5 SATA HDD's. Goal was to FTP the data but Tx speed is around 75KB/s.

Check netconfig and correct driver is installed. Was on Auto detect but tried 100/half then 100/full with no change.

This move will have to happen 2-3 times for testing purposes. Not looking to babysit a server for 5 hours for each transfer. Any help would be appreciated.

this seems like a wan/lan network issue ... if there is a way you can get both boxes on the same subnet, you might get the transmit speed to go much higher ...

if both boxes are already on the same subnet, check the settings on the network switch ports themselves to make sure they are not on auto ...

if the NICs and ports for both boxes are already set correctly and there are no issues with any of the network devices connecting the SCO box to the Linux box, try a "temporary enhancement" if possible ...

Code:

1. power-off both boxes
2. remove older box's smaller drive and add it to an empty slot on the newer box
3. boot up newer box
4. if newer box can read data on "new" drive, copy data
5. power-off new box
6. remove "new" drive and return to older box
7. boot up both boxes normally

BTW, I've used the procedure listed above on Sparc boxes running Solaris but I've never done it on Intel-based boxes or with Intel-compatible *nixes ... I vaguely remember doing same procedure on HP-UX and AIX but I'm still foggy from the anesthesia so ...


if there is no way you can do a "temporary enhancement" and everything looks like they are supposed to, then I would suggest running the job right before you leave for the day ... check on the file transfer the next day ...

if you are allowed to setup a rsh/ssh connection between both boxes without being prompted for a password, I suggest you try a remote transfer that way and see if it helps the speed ... try transferring a 1 MB file to test ... see "man rsh", "man ssh", "man tar" ...

Code:

cd /data/dir
tar cvfp - [file|dir] | rsh linuxbox "cd /data/dir; tar xvfp -"  # could also use ssh

when setting up the rsh/ssh connection, make sure that it is setup for the user who owns the data being transferred unless you can set it up for root on both boxes ... search forums on tips to setup remote rsh/ssh connection ... good luck!

If the machines are in physical proximity with each other, you could just use a crossover cable between them and transfer over a dedicated interface. That of course assumes that you have a spare network port on each machine.

Thx. Boxes are on same subnet and I cannot attached the SCSI drive to the SATA/IDE box. I'll look a little closer at the switch, then try a crossover cable.

BTW, anyway to attach a SCSI via external encloser or would I be stuck with having to purchase an add-in SCSI card.

IMHO - I'd suggest downloading the data to your local pc/laptop and then uploading to the second server. 1.5Gb isn't that much data.

Depending on how the network load is ; it could be resulting on the slow transfer rate that you've experienced.