Problem
A 1GbE network becomes the bottleneck for a single editor pulling high-bitrate source media from NAS, despite the NAS disks being capable of higher throughput.
Solution
Root Cause / Diagnostic:
Standard Gigabit Ethernet (1GbE) caps theoretical bandwidth at 125MB/s, with real-world TCP throughput plateauing at ~110MB/s. Multi-stream 4K editing with intra-frame codecs (ProRes 422 HQ at ~92MB/s per stream, or multicam raw footage) instantly saturates the single 1GbE pipeline, triggering buffer underruns, dropped frames, and timeline stalling.
Actionable Fix:
1. 10GbE / 2.5GbE Infrastructure Upgrade: Upgrade the editing workstation and NAS interface to 10GbE (or minimum 2.5GbE) and connect via a multi-gigabit managed switch with Cat6/Cat6a cabling.
2. Proxy Workflow Implementation: Generate lightweight ProRes Proxy or DNxHR LB media for daily timeline editing while keeping high-bitrate masters on the NAS for final conform and render.
3. Network Throughput Benchmark: Run an `iperf3 -c [NAS_IP]` test to verify workstation-to-NAS throughput increases from 940Mbps (~112MB/s) to 9.4Gbps (~1100MB/s).
Pro Tip:
A 1GbE network cable maxes out at 110MB/s—that is barely enough for one stream of ProRes 422 HQ; upgrade to 10GbE networking so your network can easily stream multiple 4K cameras simultaneously.
Standard Gigabit Ethernet (1GbE) caps theoretical bandwidth at 125MB/s, with real-world TCP throughput plateauing at ~110MB/s. Multi-stream 4K editing with intra-frame codecs (ProRes 422 HQ at ~92MB/s per stream, or multicam raw footage) instantly saturates the single 1GbE pipeline, triggering buffer underruns, dropped frames, and timeline stalling.
Actionable Fix:
1. 10GbE / 2.5GbE Infrastructure Upgrade: Upgrade the editing workstation and NAS interface to 10GbE (or minimum 2.5GbE) and connect via a multi-gigabit managed switch with Cat6/Cat6a cabling.
2. Proxy Workflow Implementation: Generate lightweight ProRes Proxy or DNxHR LB media for daily timeline editing while keeping high-bitrate masters on the NAS for final conform and render.
3. Network Throughput Benchmark: Run an `iperf3 -c [NAS_IP]` test to verify workstation-to-NAS throughput increases from 940Mbps (~112MB/s) to 9.4Gbps (~1100MB/s).
Pro Tip:
A 1GbE network cable maxes out at 110MB/s—that is barely enough for one stream of ProRes 422 HQ; upgrade to 10GbE networking so your network can easily stream multiple 4K cameras simultaneously.