Gigabit network settings?

Use JollysFastVNC for better VNC performance. Leopard Screen Sharing is just as fast, but fullscreen mode doesn't work. I have two minis connected by GigE, and the memory to memory performance is 915 Mbits/sec with no changes to default ethernet. I consider this wirespeed. Can all of your disks do better than 50-60 MB/sec? If not, GigE won't push bits to the disk any faster.

Unless Jolly's has made some miraculous improvement in the past 2 releases, it was by far the slowest VNC client I tried. I've traded some emails with the developer and I certainly am hopeful for the app, but I've stuck with Chicken of the VNC for now (plus its ability to display 3200x1600 VNC sessions without having to squeeze them like JVNC has to). I do a lot of VNC connections to work and tried all the VNC clients I could find. Granted the 3200x1600 criteria is not the norm for most folks.

Mike

Why? I used to use CotVNC, too, when I had a Mac still on Tiger, but if both of your Macs are on Leopard, why not use the built-in screen sharing? (This doesn't apply to you, but Leopard will share well with a Tiger Mac, and back the other way, as long as you have something like CotVNC on that Tiger Mac.)


Since both of your Macs support jumbo frames, and at least the newer versions of that switch support jumbo frames, why not change that MTU parameter from 1500 to 7500 or 9000 and re-run your tests? See if it makes a difference on a sustained transfer of a large file, like a VIDEO_TS, the kind you'd typically move. Then change it back, no worries.


I'm not home right now, so I can't measure an exact speed for you, but I have several gigabit Macs connected through the same Netgear switch--that's a nice switch, and it seems to autosense and negotiate transparently--and I think if you're getting 50-60MB/s over gigabit moving a 6-8GB file that's not bad in real world terms. Jumbo frames might help you pick that up a bit--I only have one Mac at home that supports jumbo frames, so I've never used them--but as long as your transfer speeds over gigabit are faster than over firewire 400, you should be content. A basic FW400 with a Mac is typically what, 30MB/s if you're very lucky? I think on my network, when I did do a few speed tests, my gigabit speeds for a Mac to Mac transfer was faster than even FW800.


I think this is a very salient point by Dick.

There are some other factors you have to consider--it matters what else is going on on your network at the time, what drives you have, how fast they are and how full they are. It may be, after all your tweaking, that you're limited by the speed of your Mini's internal drive. (I forgot which mini you have.) I put one of those Hitachi 200GB 7200RPM drives in my Macbook, which I essentially keep 1) relatively empty and 2) wired up over gigabit in the home theater, and after that noticed that just about everything was zippier, including file transfers over gigabit.

And if you're transferring Mac to Mac over gigabit to external volumes attached to your two Macs, you may notice a big difference whether you write to USB or firewire. The USB bus will be particularly limiting if moving something over gigabit.

As far as CotVNC feeling sluggish, well, you'll never get it to where you'll be able to watch video perfectly when sharing a screen, but do try the Leopard built-in screen and volume sharing. I use it now exclusively for control and transfers around the house, and love it. Alone, it's worth it to upgrade to Leopard. (Again, sorry I can't give you exact speeds, that's all on one of my other Macs at home. So I'm recalling my speeds from memory. At the moment I'm out in LA setting up an EyeTV 250+ on my mother-in-law's iMac...)