[aoaaron]

I've configured SMB + NFS shares on my MBP. I now want to see which one is faster so I can decide which one to use.

I've tried playback on XBMC... it seems like NFS is edging it but I don't really have a file to push it hard.

I've tried copying and pasting files and timing it. Batmans begin.mp4 in 1min 30:
SMB = 201MB
NFS = 240MB

Arrested development episode 240MB
NFS = 1 min
SMB = 1 min and a half+ (i got bored).

Is there a program or a way for me to see transfer speeds? (OSX and windows plz).

[thethirdnut]

Two options for testing speed that I use: iperf http://openmaniak.com/iperf.php or dd utility in Linux - but be careful with that one!

You also didn't say, but if you are using Linux then NFS is faster by a landslide. SMB is approx 1/5 as fast as NFS in all my various setups.
[edit: MBP = Macbook Pro! so yes I'd still expect NFS much faster since its using a BSD kernel and would likely have native NFS support.]

Using dd I have hit 120 MB/s maxing out the gigabit, SMB can only hit 30 MB/s using dd and I did run into connection issues so I dropped it. Real world file transfers are where the 1/5 SMB speed shows it worst.

If Linux-to-Linux go with NFS and don't look back.

PS: you can still keep samba running too for any non-*nix boxes that may need it.