How we test.... network attached storage

Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices are basically hard disks with a network connection, and we test them using a variation of our hard disk test. This test measures performance using real-life file copies.

As file transfers always involve two storage devices, we use a 100MB RAM disk to copy the files from. This is extremely fast and ensures that any sluggish performance can be attributed to the NAS on test rather than the data source. Typically, the network connection of the NAS is more of a bottleneck than the hard disk inside.

We also conduct qualitative tests to see how easy it is to setup and administer the NAS on your network.

Large files test

WHAT IT DOES: In our large files test we repeatedly copy a single 100MB file. We use a Visual Basic script to copy the file to and from the NAS device. We calculate an average performance in megabytes per second for reads and writes, which are combined into an overall average MB/s figure.

Small files test

SETTINGS: Copy to/from 100MB RAM disk

WHAT IT DOES: In our small files test we repeatedly copy a folder containing several thousand files with a total size of 100MB. We use a Visual Basic script to copy the folder to and from the NAS device. We calculate an average performance in megabytes per second for reads and writes, which are combined into an overall average MB/s figure.

Test bed

3.6GHz Intel Pentium 4 560
Intel i915 Motherboard
1GB DDR RAM

Reference scores

Large files 6MB/s
Small files 0.5MB/s