Network Storage: Three NAS Units Rounded Up

Test Environment

As usual, we skip installation of Jumbo Frames in our testing because, although they enable higher data-transfer rates, they can also cause problems due to an absence of standards governing their implementation. Otherwise, we ran benchmarks using our standard reference platform. The following table provide details about hardware components involved.

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System Hardware
Intel PlatformAsus P5E3 Deluxe, Rev.1.03G
Row 1 - Cell 0 Intel X38, BIOS: 0810 (02/11/2007)
CPUIntel Core 2 Duo E6750 (65 nm Conroe core) @2.26 GHz
RAM2x 1024MB Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1600
eSATA-ControllerJMicron JMB363
System Hard DiskSeagate Barracuda 7200.9, 160 GB
Row 6 - Cell 0 7,200 RPM, SATA/300, 8 MB Cache
Test Hard DiskSamsung Spinpoint HD321KJ, 320 GB
Row 8 - Cell 0 7,200 RPM, SATA/300, 16 MB Cache
DVD-ROMSamsung SH-D163A , SATA150
Graphics CardGigabyte Radeon HD 3850 GV-RX385512H
Row 11 - Cell 0 GPU: 670 MHz
Row 12 - Cell 0 RAM: 512 MB DDR3 (830 MHz, 256 Bit)
Network InterfaceMarvell Yukon 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Sound CardIntegrated
Power SupplyCoolermaster RS-850-EMBA, ATX 12V V2.2, 850 W
Row 16 - Cell 0 Row 16 - Cell 1
System Software & Drivers
OSWindows Vista Enterprise SP1
DirectX 10DirectX 10 (Vista-Standard)
DirectX 9Version: April 2007
Graphics DriversAMD Radeon Version 7.12
Network Drivers9.0.32.3 (Vista-Standard)
Intel Chipset DriverVersion 6.9.1.1001 (20/02/2008)
JMicron Chipset DriverVersion 1.17.15.0 (24/03/2007)

Intel NAS Performance Toolkit

We used the Intel NAS Performance Toolkit. You'll find a write-up of these benchmarks in our recent story on Hacking the HP EX470/475 MediaSmart Servers, where the individual tests and their results are discussed.