Problem
A bonded NAS interface provides redundancy but not the expected single-client throughput increase, leading to incorrect capacity planning for one editing workstation.
Solution
Root Cause / Diagnostic:
Link Aggregation (LACP / 802.3ad) bonds multiple Ethernet links to increase aggregate network bandwidth across multiple concurrent client streams. However, individual TCP sessions (such as a single editing workstation streaming footage over SMB) are bound to a single physical link by the hash algorithm (Layer 2/3/4), capping single-client throughput to a single cable's speed.
Actionable Fix:
1. SMB Multichannel Implementation: Enable SMB Multichannel on both the NAS (`smb.conf`: `server multi channel support = yes`) and client workstation to allow a single client to stripe transfers across multiple independent IP connections.
2. 10GbE / Single-Link Upgrade: Replace bonded multiple 1GbE links with a true single 10GbE (or 2.5GbE/5GbE) network interface card and switch infrastructure.
3. Single-Client Throughput Benchmark: Run an `iperf3 -P 4 -c [NAS_IP]` multi-stream benchmark to verify aggregate transfer speeds scale across all available network paths.
Pro Tip:
Bonding two 1GbE network cables with LACP will NOT give a single video editor 2Gbps speeds; single file transfers stay on one cable. Enable SMB Multichannel or upgrade to true 10GbE instead.
Link Aggregation (LACP / 802.3ad) bonds multiple Ethernet links to increase aggregate network bandwidth across multiple concurrent client streams. However, individual TCP sessions (such as a single editing workstation streaming footage over SMB) are bound to a single physical link by the hash algorithm (Layer 2/3/4), capping single-client throughput to a single cable's speed.
Actionable Fix:
1. SMB Multichannel Implementation: Enable SMB Multichannel on both the NAS (`smb.conf`: `server multi channel support = yes`) and client workstation to allow a single client to stripe transfers across multiple independent IP connections.
2. 10GbE / Single-Link Upgrade: Replace bonded multiple 1GbE links with a true single 10GbE (or 2.5GbE/5GbE) network interface card and switch infrastructure.
3. Single-Client Throughput Benchmark: Run an `iperf3 -P 4 -c [NAS_IP]` multi-stream benchmark to verify aggregate transfer speeds scale across all available network paths.
Pro Tip:
Bonding two 1GbE network cables with LACP will NOT give a single video editor 2Gbps speeds; single file transfers stay on one cable. Enable SMB Multichannel or upgrade to true 10GbE instead.