SMB connections keep freezing (under macOS and Windows)

TrueNAS General
1

Hi,

I have installed at a client office a Dell PowerEdge T320 running TrueNAS core for simple file sharing.
The Server has a Xeon E5-2470 with 96GB of RAM.
It has 8 drives in a RaidZ2 configuration.
The experience under macOS finder and Windows explorer was fine for months until…

Yesterday the server crashed because of a RAM error giving those errors messages:
* Processor CPU Machine Chk Asserted Transition to Non-recoverable.
* Memory ECC Uncorr Err Asserted Uncorrectable ECC (UnCorrectable ECC | DIMMA4).

To fix the issue, I had to remove a 32GB RAM stick.
It’s now running 64GB which I believe should be enough for a file Server of less than 10 desktop computers?!

However SMB connections are painfully slow and even freezing the explorer under Windows or the The Finder under macOS. Sometimes it works fine and sometimes it freezes.

I’ve run a pool scrub that found no error.
I’ve re-applied the file permissions on each shares.
I’ve added vfs object = ixnas on each share to help with macOS clients.

Creating files using the dd command on the pool itself is quick, no complaint.
Copying files with scp to the server on a folder which is on the pool is quick too.
A good 10MB/s with Wi-Fi or 100MB/s with a LAN cable.

I can’t find any error in the log.smbd or /var/log/messages files.
When the “Finder” under macOS starts to freeze, I can run an scp copy at the same time and the speed is normal.

Is there anything that can be done to fix the SMB file sharing somehow?
If I’ve forgot to provide some informations please let me know.

2

Any reason you went with Core over Scale?

For the ram, have you run memory tests to tests all sticks? (memtest86+) or build in dell tools?

Any firewalls between the client and server? Seperate VLANs and if so all rules to allow traffic between are in place?

How is the networking configured? Are you using any LAGG groups on TrueNAS to bond multiple NICs?

3

Yes, I want Core for stability as I don’t need virtualization and apps, etc…
I understand there might be a time where I will need to migrate as the tools/software running on Core will be obsolete and incompatible with newer OS releases. Hopefully not anytime soon.

In the end, I’ve figured out that it was a network issue.
What through me off was the iperf tests running fine.
The network setup was as simple as it can be with a ISP router connected to an extra (tiny) switch and to the clients/server.

After I’ve replaced the tiny network switch, it worked just fine.
Not sure why it happened after the RAM crashing the server though.

Anyhow, problem solved.

4

Good to know, that you got this resolved.

I recently ran into a similar issue with a TrueNAS Core server. SMB was beyond slow and freezing, even though I’m sure disk speeds were fine. Well, after some digging, I found a faulty RAM stick causing errors. I removed it, but the SMB issues persisted.

Long story short, I tweaked the SMB settings, forcing SMB2/3 and adjusted the MTU settings. That did the trick for me, and the SMB connections are pretty solid now.

Hope that helps if anyone’s running into something similar!

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