Applicable products
- TS-462A with QTS 5.2.6.3170 Build 20250620
Overview
iSCSI and Samba (SMB/CIFS) are two protocols for accessing storage on a QNAP NAS. iSCSI provides block-level access, allowing the NAS to appear as a local disk to the connected computer, while Samba offers file-level network sharing, enabling multiple users to access folders over the network. Performance can vary depending on the access protocol, file size, and workload.
Analysis
A benchmark was performed on a QNAP TS-462A running over a 2.5GbE network. The results below compare iSCSI and SMB performance for large and small file transfers.
Large file transfers (32GB x 1 single file)
- SMB: Upload: 295 MB/s | Download: 296 MB/s
- iSCSI: Upload: 266 MB/s | Download: 265 MB/s
- Result: SMB was approximately 11–12% faster than iSCSI for large file transfers.
Small file transfers (1MB x 32,768 files)
- SMB: Upload: 98.5 MB/s | Download: 119 MB/s
- iSCSI: Upload: 293 MB/s | Download: 167 MB/s
- Result: For small file transfers, SMB was approximately 29% to 66% slower than iSCSI.
Actual performance may vary depending on NAS hardware, network setup, and configuration. These results are from one configuration (TS-462A, QTS 5.2.6.3170 Build 20250620, 2.5GbE).
Recommendation
For most users, Samba (SMB) is recommended for cross-platform file sharing as it is widely supported by Windows, macOS, and Linux. SMB is generally faster for large file transfers and best suited for multi-user or cross-system environments.
iSCSI can provide higher performance for small file transfers and is ideal when a single computer requires block-level access, such as for virtualization or databases. If your use case involves optimizing small file transfer performance to a single device, consider iSCSI.
Overall, SMB remains the preferred choice for most scenarios.
适用产品
- TS-462A，搭载QTS 5.2.6.3170 Build 20250620
概述
iSCSI 和 SAMBA (SMB/CIFS) 是两种用于在 QNAP NAS 上访问存储的协议。iSCSI 提供块级访问，使 NAS 在连接的计算机上显示为本地磁盘，而 SAMBA 提供文件级网络共享，允许多个用户通过网络访问文件夹。性能可能因访问协议、文件大小和工作负载而异。
分析
在 2.5GbE 网络上对 QNAP TS-462A 进行了基准测试。以下结果比较了大文件和小文件传输的 iSCSI 和 SMB 性能。
大文件传输（32GB x 1 单个文件）
- SMB：上传：295 MB/s | 下载：296 MB/s
- iSCSI：上传：266 MB/s | 下载：265 MB/s
- 结果：对于大文件传输，SMB 比 iSCSI 快约 11-12%。
小文件传输（1MB x 32,768 个文件）
- SMB：上传：98.5 MB/s | 下载：119 MB/s
- iSCSI：上传：293 MB/s | 下载：167 MB/s
- 结果：对于小文件传输，SMB 比 iSCSI 慢约 29% 到 66%。
实际性能可能因 NAS 硬件、网络设置和配置而异。这些结果来自一个配置（TS-462A，QTS 5.2.6.3170 Build 20250620，2.5GbE）。
建议
对于大多数用户，SAMBA (SMB)推荐用于跨平台文件共享，因为它被 Windows、macOS 和 Linux 广泛支持。SMB 通常在大文件传输中速度更快，最适合多用户或跨系统环境。
iSCSI 可以在小文件传输中提供更高性能，适合单台计算机需要块级访问的情况，如虚拟化或数据库。如果您的使用场景涉及优化单设备的小文件传输性能，请考虑使用 iSCSI。
总体而言，SMB 仍然是大多数场景的首选。
