Will directly connecting a Synology NAS to a computer speed up file transfers?

[ColBat]

I have recent completely rebuilt and upgraded my Synology NAS and now need to transfer about 26TB of files from external HDDs to the synology.

My DS920+ failed and I had to replace it; I got a DS1621+. I took the four drives from the 920 (four 16 TB Ironwolf HDDs) and two drives from a DS220+ (two 16 TB Ironwolf HDDs), reformatted them to remove all the data and Synology setting/data on them. I installed them on the 1621 and successfully set up the new NAS with one storage pool and one volume with SHR. I want to now transfer the 26TB of media on the external hdds (Movies, TV shows, Music and Photos). I can copy files from the HDDs via my main computer (windows 10) and local LAN and upload them using DSM7 to the NAS, but this method is extremely slow. I looking for a faster method to transfer the files.

My network: Modem (four jacks) - 1) main computer, 2) upstairs router, 3) hub (5 jacks), 4) empty; all cat 6 to Router.
Router - 1) modem, 2) DS1621+, 3) Den TV, 4) Office TV, 5) empty. All cable connections are with cat 6. I have 5 TVs (2 with cat 6 to the hub, 3 via wifi), 2-3 computers (main computer with cat 6 to the hub, 1-2 via wifi), 3 tablets (all via wifi).

I have enough extra cable on the cat 6 from main computer to the hub that I can disconnect the cat 6 from the hub and run it over to the 1621+ (with 4 LAN jacks), directly connecting the main computer and 1621+.

This will only be a temporary configuration (if it is faster) to transfer the files from the HDD to the 1621; after the transfer is finished I will go back to the original configuration.

Is this possible? If it is possible, if I disconnect the 1621 from the hub will it affect the IP, will I have to set up a new static IP for the 1621 while in the temporary configuration, once I reconnect the 1621 to the hub will the old IP connection be reestablished? Would such a direct connection be faster the and existing connection (it took about 10 hours to transfer 675GB of movie files)?

 

[Telos]

Unless you have a faulty cable, switch, etc., along your network path, or your network bandwidth is saturated, a direct connection will have little impact. Still, try and see.

 

[PunchCardBoss]

Is this possible? If it is possible, if I disconnect the 1621 from the hub will it affect the IP, will I have to set up a new static IP for the 1621 while in the temporary configuration, once I reconnect the 1621 to the hub will the old IP connection be reestablished? Would such a direct connection be faster the and existing connection (it took about 10 hours to transfer 675GB of movie files)?

It is possible to connect your Win 10 PC directly to your 1621 with ethernet cable. In theory, this is your fastest connection. But your connection (LAN) speed may not be your bottleneck.

How do you connect your external HDD to your Win 10 PC? USB? In this case, data transfer from your HDD through your Win 10 PC will be your bottleneck. And, changing your PC to NAS connection will have little improvement.

 

[jann]

I have recent completely rebuilt and upgraded my Synology NAS and now need to transfer about 26TB of files from external HDDs to the synology.

My DS920+ failed and I had to replace it; I got a DS1621+. I took the four drives from the 920 (four 16 TB Ironwolf HDDs) and two drives from a DS220+ (two 16 TB Ironwolf HDDs), reformatted them to remove all the data and Synology setting/data on them. I installed them on the 1621 and successfully set up the new NAS with one storage pool and one volume with SHR. I want to now transfer the 26TB of media on the external hdds (Movies, TV shows, Music and Photos). I can copy files from the HDDs via my main computer (windows 10) and local LAN and upload them using DSM7 to the NAS, but this method is extremely slow. I looking for a faster method to transfer the files.

My network: Modem (four jacks) - 1) main computer, 2) upstairs router, 3) hub (5 jacks), 4) empty; all cat 6 to Router.
Router - 1) modem, 2) DS1621+, 3) Den TV, 4) Office TV, 5) empty. All cable connections are with cat 6. I have 5 TVs (2 with cat 6 to the hub, 3 via wifi), 2-3 computers (main computer with cat 6 to the hub, 1-2 via wifi), 3 tablets (all via wifi).

I have enough extra cable on the cat 6 from main computer to the hub that I can disconnect the cat 6 from the hub and run it over to the 1621+ (with 4 LAN jacks), directly connecting the main computer and 1621+.

This will only be a temporary configuration (if it is faster) to transfer the files from the HDD to the 1621; after the transfer is finished I will go back to the original configuration.

Is this possible? If it is possible, if I disconnect the 1621 from the hub will it affect the IP, will I have to set up a new static IP for the 1621 while in the temporary configuration, once I reconnect the 1621 to the hub will the old IP connection be reestablished? Would such a direct connection be faster the and existing connection (it took about 10 hours to transfer 675GB of movie files)?

The biggest thing that would help you would be to ensure you have a read/write NVMe cache on the target Synology. That immediately allows almost all of the network line connection speed to be used. The system will then offload those copied files to the HDs inside the Synology when it can. What do you say, @Telos?

Other than that, I'd suggest hooking one (or two) HDD to the synology via usb(s), and starting those copies via command line and the rest to windows. Then start windows' network copy. That will saturate your SHR (SHR2?) write speeds. I don't know if command-line copy (via ssh) on Synology 1621+ actually uses the write/read cache on the NVME but I would assume it does.

Just my $.02 but it seems to be multi-copies from multi-sources since you have multiple HDDs with source data would help the most.

Jann

 

[ColBat]

It is possible to connect your Win 10 PC directly to your 1621 with ethernet cable. In theory, this is your fastest connection. But your connection (LAN) speed may not be your bottleneck.

How do you connect your external HDD to your Win 10 PC? USB? In this case, data transfer from your HDD through your Win 10 PC will be your bottleneck. And, changing your PC to NAS connection will have little improvement.

What if I copied approx 500GB of media on to one of my computer's internal HD and then connected the computer directly to the NAS? Would this be any faster than going from exHDD to computer to LAN to 1621?

 

[Coop777]

How is the HDD formatted? If NTFS, you could put it into a drive enclosure or dock/caddy, connect it via USB and transfer files from the drive to the NAS....