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OVH Free Dedicated Server Benchmarking

Beta server a power beast with shortcomings

OVH is a hosting company out of Europe making it's entry into the American market. As part of their (brilliant) buzz marketing strategy they are giving away 10,000 free servers. They do limit the number they give away per day so do hurry and visit http://www.ovh.com/ca/en/ to get yours; a twitter account is required

Once I entered a code Twitted to me the server was up an running within half hour; at first glance it is a power horse:

  • CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2130 CPU @ 3.40GHz
  • Memory: 16 GB DDR3
  • Hard disk 2x 1 TB - SATA2

However my basic benchmarking for IO resulted in 1.9 MB/s copy speed, now that is very sub part performance compared 60+MB/s I am getting out of my Linode VPS and is border line unusable.

Network speed test with wget downloading a Debian ISO wasn't too impressive either, it averaged 1.75M/s (it did have nice high speed spikes), whereas my Linode VPS averaged 4.52M/s for the same file at the same time.

One must keep in mind this is a beta test and I would assume things to improve - or perhaps things are crippled to curtail abuse, either way I look forward to playing with this free dedi server and testing it more.

Benchmarking Log

login as: root
root@198.245.60.39's password:
Linux ns4000035.ip-198-245-60.net 3.2.13-grsec-xxxx-grs-ipv6-64 #1 SMP Thu Mar 2                                                                                                                                                             9 09:48:59 UTC 2012 x86_64 GNU/Linux

server    : 217000
ip        : 198.245.60.39
hostname  : ns4000035.ip-198-245-60.net

Last login: Mon Jul 30 11:53:34 2012 from s72-38-184-18.static.comm.cgocable.net
root@ns4000035:~# cat /proc/meminfo
MemTotal:       16335912 kB
MemFree:        16056976 kB
Buffers:            3412 kB
Cached:            28068 kB
SwapCached:            0 kB
Active:            49324 kB
Inactive:          17552 kB
Active(anon):      35412 kB
Inactive(anon):      160 kB
Active(file):      13912 kB
Inactive(file):    17392 kB
Unevictable:           0 kB
Mlocked:               0 kB
SwapTotal:       1051064 kB
SwapFree:        1051064 kB
Dirty:                56 kB
Writeback:             0 kB
AnonPages:         35236 kB
Mapped:             6272 kB
Shmem:               180 kB
Slab:              22992 kB
SReclaimable:       8092 kB
SUnreclaim:        14900 kB
KernelStack:         952 kB
PageTables:         1596 kB
NFS_Unstable:          0 kB
Bounce:                0 kB
WritebackTmp:          0 kB
CommitLimit:     9219020 kB
Committed_AS:     170460 kB
VmallocTotal:   34359738367 kB
VmallocUsed:      112620 kB
VmallocChunk:   34359623668 kB
DirectMap4k:        2048 kB
DirectMap2M:    16691200 kB
root@ns4000035:~# cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor       : 0
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 42
model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2130 CPU @ 3.40GHz
stepping        : 7
microcode       : 0x1a
cpu MHz         : 3400.000
cache size      : 3072 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 4
core id         : 0
cpu cores       : 2
apicid          : 0
initial apicid  : 0
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 13
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov                                                                                                                                                              pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm c                                                                                                                                                             onstant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf                                                                                                                                                              pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_                                                                                                                                                             1 sse4_2 popcnt tsc_deadline_timer xsave avx lahf_lm arat epb xsaveopt pln pts d                                                                                                                                                             ts tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips        : 6784.23
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor       : 1
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 42
model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2130 CPU @ 3.40GHz
stepping        : 7
microcode       : 0x1a
cpu MHz         : 3400.000
cache size      : 3072 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 4
core id         : 1
cpu cores       : 2
apicid          : 2
initial apicid  : 2
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 13
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov                                                                                                                                                              pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm c                                                                                                                                                             onstant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf                                                                                                                                                              pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_                                                                                                                                                             1 sse4_2 popcnt tsc_deadline_timer xsave avx lahf_lm arat epb xsaveopt pln pts d                                                                                                                                                             ts tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips        : 6784.53
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor       : 2
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 42
model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2130 CPU @ 3.40GHz
stepping        : 7
microcode       : 0x1a
cpu MHz         : 3400.000
cache size      : 3072 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 4
core id         : 0
cpu cores       : 2
apicid          : 1
initial apicid  : 1
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 13
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov                                                                                                                                                              pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm c                                                                                                                                                             onstant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf                                                                                                                                                              pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_                                                                                                                                                             1 sse4_2 popcnt tsc_deadline_timer xsave avx lahf_lm arat epb xsaveopt pln pts d                                                                                                                                                             ts tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips        : 6784.54
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor       : 3
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 42
model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2130 CPU @ 3.40GHz
stepping        : 7
microcode       : 0x1a
cpu MHz         : 3400.000
cache size      : 3072 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 4
core id         : 1
cpu cores       : 2
apicid          : 3
initial apicid  : 3
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 13
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov                                                                                                                                                              pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm c                                                                                                                                                             onstant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf                                                                                                                                                              pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_                                                                                                                                                             1 sse4_2 popcnt tsc_deadline_timer xsave avx lahf_lm arat epb xsaveopt pln pts d                                                                                                                                                             ts tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips        : 6784.53
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

root@ns4000035:~# df -h
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/md1               10G  676M  8.9G   7% /
tmpfs                 7.8G     0  7.8G   0% /lib/init/rw
udev                   10M  172K  9.9M   2% /dev
tmpfs                 7.8G     0  7.8G   0% /dev/shm
/dev/md2              921G  7.0G  868G   1% /home
root@ns4000035:~# dd if=/dev/zero of=test bs=64k count=3k oflag=dsync && rm test
3072+0 records in
3072+0 records out
201326592 bytes (201 MB) copied, 103.268 s, 1.9 MB/s
root@ns4000035:~# wget http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/6.0.5/amd64/iso-cd/debian-6.0.5-amd64-CD-1.iso
--2012-07-30 12:13:10--  http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/6.0.5/amd64/iso-cd/debian-6.0.5-amd64-CD-1.iso
Resolving cdimage.debian.org... 2001:6b0:e:2018::138, 2001:6b0:e:2018::163, 130.239.18.163, ...
Connecting to cdimage.debian.org|2001:6b0:e:2018::138|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 302 Found
Location: http://napoleon.acc.umu.se/debian-cd/6.0.5/amd64/iso-cd/debian-6.0.5-amd64-CD-1.iso [following]
--2012-07-30 12:13:11--  http://napoleon.acc.umu.se/debian-cd/6.0.5/amd64/iso-cd/debian-6.0.5-amd64-CD-1.iso
Resolving napoleon.acc.umu.se... 2001:6b0:e:2018::173, 130.239.18.173
Connecting to napoleon.acc.umu.se|2001:6b0:e:2018::173|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 677380096 (646M) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: `debian-6.0.5-amd64-CD-1.iso'

100%[===================================================================================================================================================================================================>] 677,380,096 1.75M/s   in 2m 35s

2012-07-30 12:15:47 (4.17 MB/s) - `debian-6.0.5-amd64-CD-1.iso' saved [677380096/677380096]

Comments

  1. I have sent a support ticket regarding the low IO rate and will update when I receive a response.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The response given was regarding a VPS instance and direct answer was avoided. I responded with a clarified question but yet to have received a response - it has been 6 days. I feel I can safely say that OVH direct hosting is crippled by IO operations; perhaps the storage is somehow on a distributed system.

      -- email thread edited to remove names --
      Hi

      Thanks for the response, Yes that of course make sense for a VPS but in comparison this is still subpar compared to 5 other VPS I have tested where lowest was 7.7MB/s, and what about the dedicated server test:

      root@ns4000035:~# dd if=/dev/zero of=test bs=64k count=3k oflag=dsync && rm test
      3072+0 records in
      3072+0 records out
      201326592 bytes (201 MB) copied, 103.268 s, 1.9 MB/s

      http://danielsokolowski.blogspot.ca/2012/07/ovh-free-dedicated-server-benchmarking.html - for complete info.

      Thanks Guys!

      On 01/08/2012 16:25, support@ovh.ca wrote:
      > Hi,
      >
      > I understand your concern about write speed on the vKS. As the vKS implementation is completed using multi-layer technology of virtualisation, the test you made would probably be the slowest mode, as the write cache is basically unused at all. I suggest you complete the test using this command instead : "dd bs=1M count=128 if=/dev/zero of=test conv=fdatasync"
      >
      > Reference : http://romanrm.ru/en/dd-benchmark
      >
      > Thanks,
      >
      > , OVH.com
      >
      >
      >> The same issue exists on vks23786.ip-176-31-165.eu:
      >>
      >> root@vks23786:~# dd if=/dev/zero of=test bs=64k count=3k oflag=dsync && rm test
      >> ^C1228+0 records in
      >> 1228+0 records out
      >> 80478208 bytes (80 MB) copied, 45.288 s, 1.8 MB/s
      >>
      >> root@vks23786:~#

      Delete
  2. The honeymoon is over and my free server is being converted to a dedicated paid plan starting at $79/month; at that price I strongly feel there are better servers out there without the IO Concerns.

    In a few months when my Linode is up for a review and I feel adventurous I might try these guys: http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fdigicube.fr%2F&act=url - be warned though and heed the saying 'You get what you pay for' :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting. I tried the same disk benchmark (dd if=/dev/zero of=test bs=64k count=3k oflag=dsync && rm test) on my Linode 1024 and my Hetzner 4S (http://www.hetzner.de/hosting/produkte_rootserver/ex4s) accounts.

    Linode 1024:
    201326592 bytes (201 MB) copied, 12.9245 s, 15.6 MB/s

    Hetzner 4S:
    201326592 bytes (201 MB) copied, 188.649 s, 1.1 MB/s

    Ouch. Currently plenty of RAM and 3TB space is much more important to me than disk speed, but 1.1 MB/s is a crap. I expected more from Hetzner. That said, a tar cjf of a few hundred MB file was 12x faster on Hetzner.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That is interesting, I would still think that overall your dedi is much faster then Linode because you have the benefit of huge CACHE. The `dd` test is very simple and one would do better by using something like: Phoronix Test Suite

    On a side note you may want to request a node migration to a less busy cluster: http://danielsokolowski.blogspot.ca/2012/07/linode-is-truly-great-hosting-company.html.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Out of interest I tried this on my London based Linode 512, (although I don't full know what this benchmark is doing):

    201326592 bytes (201 MB) copied, 2.97645 s, 67.6 MB/s

    @Damir - what datacenter are you using? You seem to be getting much poorer performance.

    ReplyDelete
  6. SATA2 direct attached should never be that low...it's like...what gives?

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's because it's 64k, even a SATA3 SSD give little over 50MB/s

    ReplyDelete
  8. Try with: dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/test bs=64k count=16k > /dev/null;

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
    /dev/sdb1 * 4096 203716607 101856256 fd Linux RAID autodetect
    /dev/sdb2 203716608 234434559 15358976 82 Linux swap / Solaris
    root@dozer:~# screen
    root@dozer:/# cat /proc/cpuinfo| grep MHz
    cpu MHz : 1600.000
    cpu MHz : 1600.000
    cpu MHz : 1600.000
    cpu MHz : 1600.000
    cpu MHz : 1600.000
    cpu MHz : 1600.000
    cpu MHz : 1600.000
    cpu MHz : 1600.000
    root@dozer:/# sudo hdparm -Tt /dev/sda

    /dev/sda:
    Timing cached reads: 28216 MB in 2.00 seconds = 14122.65 MB/sec
    Timing buffered disk reads: 772 MB in 3.00 seconds = 257.29 MB/sec
    root@dozer:/#

    ReplyDelete
  11. root@dozer:/# dd if=/dev/zero of=test bs=64k count=3k oflag=dsync && rm test
    3072+0 records in
    3072+0 records out
    201326592 bytes (201 MB) copied, 2.81044 s, 71.6 MB/s
    root@dozer:/#

    ReplyDelete
  12. root@dozer:/# dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/test bs=64k count=16k > /dev/null;
    16384+0 records in
    16384+0 records out
    1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 0.398304 s, 2.7 GB/s

    ReplyDelete
  13. As a newbie to benchmarking, it is itching me to question that what is the difference between their
    dd bs=1M count=128 if=/dev/zero of=test conv=fdatasync
    vs yours
    dd if=/dev/zero of=test bs=64k count=3k oflag=dsync && rm test

    I even tried
    dd bs=1M count=10240 if=/dev/zero of=test conv=fdatasync
    And the results were:
    10240+0 records in
    10240+0 records out
    10737418240 bytes (11 GB) copied, 61.1248 s, 176 MB/s

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Valuable Information here!
      I am fully impressed with this article.This blog is great source of information which is very useful for
      Dedicated Server

      Delete
  14. Anand - did you get a slower result with 'dd if=/dev/zero of=test bs=64k count=3k oflag=dsync' ?

    ReplyDelete

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