SFTP download speed issue compared to FTP/FTPES and SFTP via WinSCP

Hi,

I'd like to report that I'm seeing SFTP download speed issues with 4.0RC2 (up to and including the latest build 1485).

When downloading from a single site (my remote *nix server), I'm getting 520KB/s if I connect via FTP or FTPES using FlashFXP, 520KB/s via SFTP using WinSCP, but only 300KB/s via SFTP using FlashFXP. This is 100% reproducable.

Given that WinSCP is downloading at full speed (for my DSL) and FlashFXP is using both the same protocol and server details, this rules out issues with traffice shaping or congestion on my DSL line.

Please let me know if you require any further information.

Regards,

Bazerka.

Hello,

When you log into the server what does it say is the server brand?

For example one of my servers reports

SSH Connection open
Connection established with OpenSSH_4.3 (SFTP v3)
SFTP Connection Ready

Hi there,

Here's the server brand as requested.

[19:42:27] [R] SSH Connection open
[19:42:27] [R] Connection established with OpenSSH_5.4p1 FreeBSD-20100308 (SFTP v3)
[19:42:27] [R] SFTP Connection Ready

Regards,

Bazerka.

I can confirm this issue. Reproducable as well.

Getting <300kb/s with ffxp SFTP and >1MB/s with filezilla SFTP on the same server.

[R] Host key algorithm ssh-RSA, size 2048 bits.
[R] Fingerprint (MD5): xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[R] Key exchange: diffie-hellman-group14-sha1. Session encryption: aes256-ctr, MAC: hmac-sha1, compression: none.
[R] Auth Type: Public Key
[R] Authentication succeeded
[R] SSH Connection open
[R] Connection established with OpenSSH_5.5p1 Debian-4 (SFTP v3)
[R] SFTP Connection Ready

Have you always experienced slower SFTP speeds with FlashFXP?

I am trying to determine if this is a new issue or if its always been an issue that no one has reported.

Sorry, I only started testing RC2 from build 1480, so I can't say whether it's an old issue or not.

If you'd like any old builds tested, please let me know (and provide URLs as to where I can download them).

Regards,

Bazerka.

I posted a new build 1487 that should improve the SFTP transfer speed, please test it when you get time and let me know how it compares.

Thanks!

Hi,

I can report that build 1487 definitely shows an improvement in SFTP speed, although it's still not up to WinSCP speeds.

Whilst transferring over my DSL, I'm getting 520KB/s with FTPES (FlashFXP), 515KB/s with SFTP (WinSCP) and ~480KB/s with SFTP (FlashFXP).

I've also tested on my local LAN : 33MB/s with FTP (FlashFXP), 14MB/s with SFTP (WinSCP) and 12.5MB/s with SFTP (FlashFXP). (I used 3 randomly generated 1GB files, so that OS/filesystem caching wouldn't skew the transfer speeds).

So things are looking good now, although there is potentially some room for small improvement.

Thanks for working on the issue!

Regards,

Bazerka.

400kb/s before, 640kb/s now, still >1MB/s with filezilla sftp

I sent you a private message with a test build.

Hi,

I've repeated the tests with 1487b test build - there's no change in DSL performance :

Flash/SFTP 468KB/s peak (bouncing around between 440KB/s and 455KB/s)
Flash/FTPES 528KB/s solid (maxing out DSL)
WinSCP/SFTP 525KB/s solid (maxing out DSL)

The LAN tests showed no improved performance :

Flash/SFTP 12,499 KB/s (1487 public build: 12.5MB/s)
Filezilla/SFTP 13,972 KB/s
WinSCP/SFTP 13,609 KB/s


Regards,

Bazerka.

Originally Posted by bigstar

I sent you a private message with a test build.

FFXP 1487 unpatched: Transferred 1 File (43,95 MB) in 1 minute 13 second (613,7 KB/s) (SFTP)
FileZilla 3.3.4.1: File transfer successful, transferred 46.085.020 bytes in 49 seconds => 918kb/s (SFTP)
FFXP 1487 patched: Transferred 1 File (43,95 MB) in 1 minute 13 second (608,6 KB/s) (SFTP)

for comparison FFXP 1336: Transferred 1 file totaling 43,95 MB in 1 minute 14 seconds (604,3 KB/s)

Thanks for the update, I will continue to investigate this issue.

I just released a new build 1488, this build updates the SFTP engine to the latest version, please give it a try. Thanks.

Originally Posted by bigstar

I just released a new build 1488, this build updates the SFTP engine to the latest version, please give it a try. Thanks.

ffxp 1488: Transferred 1 File (43,95 MB) in 1 minute 17 second (584,2 KB/s)
filezilla: File transfer successful, transferred 46.085.020 bytes in 48 seconds (937 KB/s)

One factor which I didn't consider is the encryption cipher, can you please make sure FlashFXP is using the same encryption as the other clients, some encryptions are faster than others.

You can change the encryption cipher via the Site Manager / Advanced Tab.

Originally Posted by bigstar

One factor which I didn't consider is the encryption cipher, can you please make sure FlashFXP is using the same encryption as the other clients, some encryptions are faster than others.

You can change the encryption cipher via the Site Manager / Advanced Tab.

Encryption algorithm is identical on both clients:

Trace: Initialised AES-256 SDCTR client->server encryption
Trace: Initialised HMAC-SHA1 client->server MAC algorithm
Trace: Initialised AES-256 SDCTR server->client encryption
Trace: Initialised HMAC-SHA1 server->client MAC algorithm

[R] Key exchange: diffie-hellman-group14-sha1. Session encryption: aes256-ctr, MAC: hmac-sha1, compression: none.


Switching to other combinations of encryption and mac makes little to no difference. Tried quite a few.

FileZilla: File transfer successful, transferred 46.085.020 bytes in 44 seconds (1.022 kb/s)
FFXP: Transferred 1 File (43,95 MB) in 1 minute 2 second (716,4 KB/s)

Speed is generally better in the late evening. (europe)

I sent both of you another test build via private message, I look forward to hearing from you.

Originally Posted by bigstar

I sent both of you another test build via private message, I look forward to hearing from you.

ffxp: Transferred 1 File (43,95 MB) in 1 minute 7 second (670,1 KB/s)
filezilla: File transfer successful, transferred 46.085.020 bytes in 45 seconds (1.000 KB/s)

Originally Posted by bigstar

I sent both of you another test build via private message, I look forward to hearing from you.

Hi,

Unfortunately no change in speed - 525KB/s WinSCP/SFTP, 450-460KB/s FlashFXP/SFTP - same ciphers/algorithms.

Regards,

Bazerka.

I'm stumped on this one, In my own testing the last build out performed FZ on my local lan tests. I'm not sure why neither of you saw a speed increase with this build.

With encryption set to none I was able to achieve 55MB/s over my lan, with AES256 encryption 18MB/s, My internet connection is roughly 10mbit and I have no problem maxing it out using FlashFXP to download.

I can't recall if I suggested this before but in Preference dialog > Connection section check your TCP/IP buffer sizes, Try default if you're not already using it and then a few values in between and see if it makes any difference.

(auto) should not be used when trying to achieve maximum speeds.

Sometimes if your buffers are too big or small it can impact performance in FlashFXP.

Originally Posted by bigstar

I'm stumped on this one, In my own testing the last build out performed FZ on my local lan tests. I'm not sure why neither of you saw a speed increase with this build.

With encryption set to none I was able to achieve 55MB/s over my lan, with AES256 encryption 18MB/s, My internet connection is roughly 10mbit and I have no problem maxing it out using FlashFXP to download.

I can't recall if I suggested this before but in Preference dialog > Connection section check your TCP/IP buffer sizes, Try default if you're not already using it and then a few values in between and see if it makes any difference.

(auto) should not be used when trying to achieve maximum speeds.

Sometimes if your buffers are too big or small it can impact performance in FlashFXP.

Sadly, no matter what buffer size I choose, the speed stays pretty much the same. Always at around 70% of the FileZilla speed. Thanks for the effort though.

By the way, I really miss the feature of being able to browse (and queue files) on a server during a transfer. That is a nice feature of FZ or WinSCP (afaik).