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gurnam

Can you identify the speed bottleneck?

Between a desktop connected via wired ethernet to Airport Extreme 5th Gen (Gigabit ethernet) connected via a powered USB 2.0 hub to an external USB hard drive which spins at 5400RPM, what would be speed bottleneck?

USB 2.0
or
HDD RPM
or
Gigabit Ethernet
or
USB Hub

I ask because I have an option of switching to a 7200RPM drive and not sure if its worth it. This setup is ONLY for Time Machine backups. A couple of laptops will be connecting over WiFi N for TM backups but my primary desktop which I'm most concerned about is over wired ethernet.

Thanks!
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ArmpitOfDeath

Airport Extreme. It's ability to throughput 'gigabit' traffic to connected storage is about as pathetic - if not more so - as any of the ~$100 multipurpose routers out there.
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ajcohen

If you're recovering from a time machine backup, for whatever reason it is mind-numbingly slow. I have the same issue with my Time Capsule. Been going around forums for the last 2 years and still haven't found a solution that works.

It took me two days to fully restore my Macbook Pro after I changed out the Harddrive. It was approx. 200GB restore
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NotHotWater

Armpit's definitely right that the Time Machine could be the cause. You could also be losing some speed because you're not setup for Gigabit ethernet. You need to have CAT5e or CAT6 cable (CAT5 doesn't support gigabit) if you want to get "gigabit" speeds.

But, like Armpit says, it's most likely the Airport Extreme. Your fastest backups are going to come on a USB 3 (in your case 2) or Thunderbolt drive connected straight to your computer. The simple fact that you're backing up over your network is bottlenecking your speeds in comparison to where they could be with a direct connection.
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