New late 2015 5k 27" iMac Time Machine failures to NAS WD My Cloud EX2

[mtbdudex]

I've also noticed my iTunes library was ultra slow in past copying to the NAS, yet in copying to the basement iMac it also was quite fast, 77GB library for 10,900 files.

very fast copy speeds

[doublepost=1452347930][/doublepost]This is called drop back 10 and punt ....

easy instructions

 

[mtbdudex]

Well I"ve gone thru the PIA process of totally Fresh install of
OSX, that took long time, I wish migration assistant would let you selectively install applications not all or none.
Having individual user install did help for the 3 kids accounts.

System Version: OS X 10.11.2 (15C50)
Kernel Version: Darwin 15.2.0
Boot Volume: iMac 5k 3TB Fusion

Then did a complete factory restore of the WD NAS EX2, that took about 18 hours.

Results/mu conclusion:
I've got a bad EX2 unit, no way can they sell this with such pi$$ poor performance.
What took me a few minutes to transfer iMac to iMac via my LAN


shows taking hours on the EX2.

 

[mtbdudex]

Ok - I also just did a Raid1 re-format, made sure encryption was not on (which it was off).

Still, abysmal performance, like modem speeds!.

I submitted my WD help ticket, with a link to this thread for fact based data

Honestly, at this point in time if WD would just swap with me the EX2 NAS for a USB3 external bay I'd call it a day and plug that in to the back of my AirPort Extreme, and give up any NAS usage.
[doublepost=1452555040][/doublepost]Basic Q:
Am I expecting too much speed wise here?
I can't find claims of how fast the EX2 is on WD site

When I look at their bigger 2 bay units I see clear claims of speed:
My Cloud EX2100, $220, not much over the $150 I paid
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1470

My Cloud DL2100, $316
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1440

 

[mtbdudex]

Ok - I found a great utility to test the speed of Networks, over LAN, or wifi.
http://www.helios.de/web/EN/products/LanTest.html

HELIOS LanTest is a very popular network performance and reliability testing solution for Mac and Windows clients. It is very easy to use within seconds and scales from single local disk testing, to testing performance of a network volume, as well as multi-user concurrent client testing against a single server volume.

This version has been designed using the latest native APIs for testing common file I/O operations, which are used when working with files on server volumes. Five different setups are available, to range from slower networks like standard Ethernet/DSL, up to 40 Gigabit Ethernet. Make sure to select the proper network environment for the existing connection between client and server:

I wish someone would have pointed out that tool to me long time ago!

Did some testing:
This is my baseline, LAN 2nd floor to basement iMac to iMac over gigabit LAN

And odd thing is here is the iMac 5k to the NAS WD EX2 over gigabit LAN.
A little slower but according to this test it's working "fine", so what's wrong with the file transfers and Time Machine usage of this??? I'm so puzzled.

and as expected here is test over wifi my new 5k iMac to 2007 24" iMac.
Slower but in the ballpark for the old 9 year old computer wifi 802.11n ability.

Finally here is test over wifi my new 5k iMac to 2013 MacBook Pro Retina, with 256GB SSD and wifi 802.11ac.
Slower than LAN, but faster than the older wifi wifi 802.11n iMac did.

Last but not least, I have a 2TB USB 2.0 external hard drive that I'm using as Time Machine disk via the USB port on the Airport Extreme, here's that test:
Shows me not much to gain by going to a USB 3.0 disk if I'm wifi, even ac protocol.

 

[mtbdudex]

So rather than copying large aperture libraries, that have 5,000 photos, plus all their previews/etc, I did a single large video file ... wow the EX2 can cruise on that ...

Maybe I've root caused it that it's NAS software/hardware chip is having trouble with individual files in the library itself .... while the MacOS seems not to be bothered as much by that ....
Upload from iMac to NAS, "single file" 8.47GB in size (actually 80 items in the package), around 46MB/s

download same single file from NAS to iMac, file 8.47GB in size, around 94MB/s with some spikes of 115MB/s

The 38GB Aperture library has 11,354 pictures/movies in it, however with the previews and other organization of items there are .. get ready ... 169,352 items !!

Would some of the more capable CPU units with more RAM then handle this much better??
I updated my WD case with this info, pointing to this thread.

 

[mtbdudex]

Based on advice from WD tech support, they recommended I manually install the firmware....

So here it shows the firmware level and last auto apply date:

Now I'm updating it manually via file uploaded from their website directly

Here it is, manually updated, note it's at same exact version level

Now the litmus test, did it improve the file copy speed?
single big video file transfered quite fast, mid 45MB/s speed

However the Aperture library file no change, too slow and non-usable, I had to cancel the file transfer after 10 mintues of nearly nothing, like 170KB/s speed!! wtf?

So now I'm email back this to WD tech support, as they claim cannot access the internet.

 

[mtbdudex]

My WD help ticket was escalated to level 2 support.
Having this thread was great to show him what I went thru.
He took control of my computer and basically duplicated the situation.
The best was having the iStats menu, that shows the read/write transfer speeds, for last hour/day/week.

In the end, he agreed the EX2 is not performing correctly and offered me a RMA exchange.

[edit] I'm being upgraded to the My Cloud EX2100 for "free" as good will gesture for all my troubles, I'm happy. Should have that by end of this week.
I'll hook it up and post results here.

 

[mtbdudex]

Got the My Cloud EX2100 Wednesday afternoon, swapped in the existing (2) 6TB RED drives w/o any other changes for apples-apples comparison.
Had to update the firmware, that's it.
>>I have to say WD support stepped up, calling me at home, very pro-active.

Initial impressions;
-it works
-wicked fast, up to 115MB/s fast!
-I'll do more benchmarking this weekend
-after 15 days I'll return the EX2


Finishing a time machine incremental back-up, where the EX2 hung up, this was going around 10MB/s to 45MB/s.

It actually cruised so fast transferring my 77GB iTunes files, 60MB/s to 113MB/s

 

[mtbdudex]

Doing some benchmarking I found the web based WD My cloud (http://wdmyclouddl2100.local/ ) Device activity does NOT display network speed at all
>>Does anyone know why? Is it a know bug or what?
Some screen shots, I’m moving 452GB video files to the EX2100 so all 4 of my computers can easily view them, family home movies/etc.
It’s avg 100MB/s for this activity, and hit 116MB/s ...

As I do other tests, the big ones moving large aperture files (over 100GB), or Time Machine backups, I’ll share results .

Network performance not being captured …..gotta be a bug in the WD web based software ....

 

[AppleSmack]

I'm considering getting a My Cloud, thanks for your detailed write up.

 

[mtbdudex]

If I knew then what I know now, I'd not use anything except a USB 3 hard drive for Time Machine, just plug that into the back of your airport express and done. Heck all the issues I've had, way too much time debugging it.
Even now, every 2 months I get a "corrupt time machine backup file, need to rebuilt a new one" error.
I've given up on NAS.

 

[leman]

Apple has released an official Time Machine over SMB spec, so any third-party vendor can support in a proper and stable manner it if they so choose.

 

[mtbdudex]

Apple has released an official Time Machine over SMB spec, so any third-party vendor can support in a proper and stable manner it if they so choose.

That's good to know, hopefully Western digital releases a fix to their current buggy and not stable solution.