Test Disk Performance

Linux

For comprehensive performance testing of cloud server disks (read/write IOPS and bandwidth), use the fio utility. You can use test files—prepared text files containing testing settings—for testing.

1. Install the fio utility.

2. Prepare the disk for testing.

3. Test performance.

Test results can be compared to the limits for network volumes and local disks.

1. Install the fio utility

1. Connect to the server.

2. Install the fio utility:

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install fio

2. Prepare the disk for testing

carefully

Do not use a disk that contains any information for testing—all data on the disk will be destroyed during preparation for testing.

You can use a separate file on the disk for tests, but the result may not be representative, especially if you are using the root partition.

To exclude the influence of services and file system performance on the test result, we recommend creating an empty network volume and filling it with data.

1. Create an empty disk.

2. Attach the disk to the cloud server.

3. View the name of the empty disk:

   lsblk

   A list of cloud server disks will appear in the response. Copy the name of the empty disk.

4. Fill the empty disk with data:

   dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/<sdX> bs=4M

   Specify <sdX> — the name of the empty disk that you copied in step 3.

3. Test performance

You can use:

• IOPS testing — random write or read with 4 KB blocks; ;
• bandwidth testing — random write or read with 4 MB blocks.

Test IOPS

Write

1. Open the CLI.

2. Create a test file in the nano text editor:

   nano write.ini

3. Add the following content to the test file:

   [writetest]
   size=2000M
   blocksize=4k
   filename=/dev/sdb
   rw=randwrite
   direct=1
   buffered=0
   ioengine=libaio
   iodepth=32

   Where:

   • size — total size of the file for testing;
   • blocksize — size of a single data block for testing;
   • filename — path to the file to be used for testing. The example above shows a test with write-to-disk using the filename=/dev/sdb;
   • iodepth — number of threads.

4. Exit the nano text editor and save changes: press Ctrl+X, then Y+Enter.

5. Run the test:

   fio write.ini

   Look for the IOPS value in the test output. Example output:

   write: IOPS=118, BW=475KiB/s (487kB/s)(2000MiB/4310296msec); 0 zone resets

Read

1. Open the CLI.

2. Create a test file in the nano text editor:

   nano read.ini

3. Add the following content to the test file:

   [readtest]
   size=2000M
   blocksize=4k
   filename=/dev/sdb
   rw=randread
   direct=1
   buffered=0
   ioengine=libaio
   iodepth=32

   Where:

   • size — total size of the file for testing;
   • blocksize — the size of a single data block for testing;
   • filename — path to the file to be used for testing. The example above shows a test with write-to-disk using the filename=/dev/sdb;
   • iodepth — number of threads.

4. Exit the nano text editor and save changes: press Ctrl+X, then Y+Enter.

5. Run the test:

   fio read.ini

   Look for the IOPS value in the test output. Example output:

   read: IOPS=320, BW=1280KiB/s (1311kB/s)(2000MiB/1599899msec)

Test bandwidth

Write

1. Open the CLI.

2. Create a test file in the nano text editor:

   nano write.ini

3. Add the following content to the file:

   [writetest]
   size=2000M
   blocksize=4M
   filename=/dev/sdb
   rw=write
   direct=1
   buffered=0
   ioengine=libaio
   iodepth=32

   Where:

   • size — total size of the test file; ;
   • blocksize — size of one block with which the read or write operation is performed;
   • filename — file to write or read. The examples below show tests with a write to disk with the filename=/dev/sdb parameter — the write will also destroy the data and file system on the disk if it exists;
   • iodepth — number of threads.

4. Exit the nano text editor and save changes: press Ctrl+X, then Y+Enter.

5. Run the test:

   fio write.ini

   Look for the bandwidth (BW) value in the test output. Example output:

   write: IOPS=25, BW=100MiB/s (105MB/s)(2000MiB/19974msec); 0 zone resets

Read

1. Open the CLI.

2. Create a test file in the nano text editor:

   nano read.ini

3. Add the following content to the file:

   [readtest]
   size=2000M
   blocksize=4M
   filename=/dev/sdb
   rw=read
   direct=1
   buffered=0
   ioengine=libaio
   iodepth=32

   Where:

   • size — total size of the test file; ;
   • blocksize — size of one block with which the read or write operation is performed;
   • filename — file to write or read. The examples below show tests with a write to disk with the filename=/dev/sdb parameter — the write will also destroy the data and file system on the disk if it exists;
   • iodepth — number of threads.

4. Exit the nano text editor and save changes: press Ctrl+X, then Y+Enter.

5. Run the test:

   fio read.ini

   Look for the bandwidth (BW) value in the test output. Example output:

   read: IOPS=25, BW=100MiB/s (105MB/s)(2000MiB/19911msec)

Windows

For comprehensive performance testing of cloud server disks (read/write IOPS and bandwidth), use the CrystalDiskMark utility. We recommend testing on an additional cloud server disk.

1. Install the CrystalDiskMark utility.

2. Test performance.

Test results can be compared to the limits for network volumes and local disks.

1. Install the CrystalDiskMark utility

1. Download CrystalDiskMark.

2. Run the installer.

3. Follow the steps to install the utility.

2. Test performance

Before testing, terminate background application processes or reboot into safe mode. We recommend testing on an additional disk.

You can use:

• IOPS testing — random write and read with 4 KB blocks;
• bandwidth testing — random write and read with 4 MB blocks.

Test IOPS

1. Run CrystalDiskMark.

2. Go to Profile.

3. Select Demo.

4. Go to Settings → Settings.

5. In the Profile:Demo block:

   5.1. In the Type column, select the testing type — RND. This testing type is responsible for random read and write.

   5.2. In the Block Size column, select the block size for testing — 4KiB.

   5.3. In the Queues column, select the request queue depth for testing — 32.

   5.4. In the Threads column, select the number of threads — 1.

6. Click OK.

7. In the units of measurement, select IOPS.

8. Click ALL. The disk IOPS test will start.

9. Look for the read and write IOPS values in the test output. Example output:

   Read 325 IOPS
   Write 121 IOPS

Test bandwidth

1. Run CrystalDiskMark.

2. Go to Profile.

3. Select Demo.

4. Go to Settings → Settings.

5. In the Profile:Demo block:

   5.1. In the Type column, select the testing type — SEQ. This testing type is responsible for sequential read and write.

   5.2. In the Block Size column, select the block size for testing — 4MiB.

   5.3. In the Queues column, select the request queue depth for testing — 32.

   5.4. In the Threads column, select the number of threads — 1.

6. Click OK.

7. In the units of measurement, select MB/s.

8. Click ALL. The disk bandwidth test will start.

9. Look for the read and write bandwidth values in the test output. Example output:

   Read 106.5 MB/s
   Write 95.6 MB/s