I am unsure where to post this question.I am installing two Dell NX1950 WUDSS servers. I am having an issue copying large files (+5Gb) over the network from one WUDSS server to the other. If I look at the "Network Utilization" in the "Windows Task Manager" on the two servers, and start the file copy, it starts off fairly well. Network Utilisation goes up and holds at aproximately 59%. However, after about 20 - 30 seconds, the Network Utilisation drops down to zero, and will bounce up and down between 0 and 20% for the next minute or so. Then it will do another 20 - 30 seconds at a steady 59%, and then will drop back down. And the cycle continues on for ever, until the file is finally copied.The servers have 6 NICs installed (two onboard Broadcom 1Gb NICs and a Quad port Intel Pro/1000 Gb NIC) The OS has all Microsoft Updates and service packs installed. The NIC drivers were all updated with the latest versions. Both servers are connected to a Cisco 3750 switch.Here's what I've tried so far:1) Copy the file over the Intel NICs2) Copy the file over the Broadcom NICs3) Connect the two servers directly to each other using a cross over cable4) Set the NICs to Auto detect the speed and duplex5) Set the NICs to 1Gb/Full Duplex6) Disable TCP Offloads7) Enable TCP Offloads8) Installed KB948496Can anyone PELASE help me figure this out?

I assume that you have windows server 2003 installed with service pack 2 and you have disabled offload feature.+ Server 2003 will use SMB for file transfer and it's really slow process compare to SMB2 which is available with Server 2008. SMB has lot of overheads and was designed long back and it has to do lot of read/write command to complete file transfer and it will definitely slow.+ Network utilisation will be very less and is expected as task manager shows relative info and not actual info.+ You can use few SMB twick which might increase performance by 5% to 10%, but don't expect that it will bring great change in file copy. + if you would like to transfer big files, use FTP or third party app. If you would like to do file transfer using SMB, use command prompt rather than windows explorer, as explorer will add overheads for shell. If you have antivirus installed, remove that as it will scan files and adds overhead.+ Run machine with Single NIC and keep that NIC at top of binding, disable all other NIC's. Update RDBSS.sys, MRXSMB.sys and SRV.sys files on both machines to latest.+ Check KB321098 - file copy will be slow when we copy to or from DC.+ Check KB888562 - it has registry keys that can be used to optimise SMB performance based on system configuration.Hope this helps

Hi ShilpeshThanks for the reply. As it turns out, it wasn't a network performance issue at all. It was a performance issue with the RAID adapter itself. Update some firmware with the help of Dell Tech Support, and it is now performing much better.Thanks again for your help, and sorry it took me this long to respond.