I have an issue where the transfer rate is not showing correctly for a second folder.
I have my normal backup folder from computer A → computer B going from external HDD to external HDD. I setup a second folder from computer A → computer B going from NVME to NVME, just to compare speeds (wifi network vs drive types).
Files do transfer in the second folder (NVME) but it shows 0 B/s as it syncs. Ultimately I would think SyncThing would total the speeds across all transfers but it seems to only display the original folder transfer rate.
Computer A is Windows and SyncThingTray is installed via Choco (updated weekly). Computer B is Linux, also updated weekly. I think both are 1.27.9.
One possible cause for the confusion I could see: Syncthing isn’t actually syncing data as you are already in sync, it’s just comparing metadata to ensure being in sync. It’s easy to mistake that for actual syncing.
Other than that please provide additional information and evidence of what your experiencing. Something like a screenshot of syncthing and some independent indication of network transfers (e.g. from your OS’ monitor tool).
I am confused. The network activity is at a low baseline, but it seems to be syncing the 10GB ‘test.mkv’, meaning it doesn’t seem like metadata. I can delete the file, scan, its gone from both computers, copy the file back (from another folder outside SyncThing), rescan, and the transfer begins. I can play the file on computer B (receiver) so I don’t see how this is metadata - I assume Metadata would be MB size not GB size.
If everything seems normal can you ELI5? Thanks for your time!
I presume the file is not also in windows backup? If the windows backup folder is also shared between both machines, syncthing will realize it already has a copy of test.mkv and will just locally copy it without transferring any of the file data…
I did copy an existing MKV file from Windows Backup but renamed it. Is metadata smart enough to realize its the same file just renamed, but in a new folder?
yes, windows backup is shared between both machines. the setup is basically:
Folder 1: Windows (Windows Backup [hdd]) to Linux (Windows Backup [hdd])
Folder 2: Windows (Downloads Test [nvme]) to Linux (Home [nvme])
it is the same Windows machine to the same linux machine
Yep… that’s why no data is transferred.
During the “scanning” process, Syncthing is hashing the contents of each file (in chunks, actually).
So both sides know what chunks are contained in the complete set of shared folders.
When the new file is created in the test directory, syncthing on the source side hashes the new file and sends a set of the hashes to the remote site. The remote syncthing instance looks for matching chunks in the complete set of files under its control, and determines which chunks it already has, and which chunks have to be fetched from other machines (in your case, the source machine because you only have two. But syncthing can fetch chunks from any connected device that has those chunks.)
So in your example, syncthing says “I already have all of these chunks, so I can reassemble the new file without having to fetch any new chunks” and therefore no file data is transferred. The only data transferred is the file metadata, and the list of chunks.
You are right. SyncThing is smarter than me. I put a new file in the test location, one that neither computer has seen before and the transfer speeds reappeared. Thanks!!
