Performance - Gigabit LAN - JBOD
The 2100 supports 4 K and 8 K jumbo frame sizes, but only 4 K frames were tested in both JBOD and RAID1 modes. Once again, the D-Link DNS-323 comes out on top for JBOD write and the N2100 for read. Jumbo frames definitely help the N2100's write performance, but not so much for read.
Like many other Linux-based NASes, read performance for smaller file sizes is very high and drops off, in this case, for 256 MB and higher files.
Figure 5: 1000 Mbps LAN JBOD write performance (click to enlarge)
A close look at Figure 6 shows that the DNS-323 drops below the HP Media Vault (mv2020) for JBOD read with a gigabit LAN connection.
Figure 6: 1000 Mbps LAN JBOD read performance (click to enlarge)
Performance - Gigabit LAN - RAID 1
Comparing Figures 5 and 7 shows relative performance remains the same as JBOD for RAID 1 write, but there is an expected reduction in speeds.
Figure 7: 1000 Mbps LAN RAID 1 write performance (click to enlarge)
RAID 1 read (Figure 8) once again has the HP NAS beating out D-Link, but by a much wider margin than in JBOD mode.
Figure 8: 1000 Mbps LAN RAID 1 read performance (click to enlarge)
Conclusion
If you have a Thecus N2100 and haven't upgraded to the 2.1.03 firmware, the iozone test results show that installing the upgrade will provide a nice performance boost. Who says that nothing comes for free? Be sure to check the NAS Charts to see how far up the charts the upgraded N2100 moved.
