Josh Sherman
Why not check out the latest comparison?
Switching it up yet again on y’all!
This month, we’re back to looking at those east coast data centers, but also, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS is out and this is my first set of metrics run on the latest long term release of Ubuntu.
Sadly though, sysbench was throwing shade while I tried to run the MySQL
benchmarks so I am omitting them this month. Think you can get things working
correctly? Feel free to tweak my [benchmarks script][bench] and kick me a PR!
One other tweak this month, I swapped out Apache for nginx, but I am still using
Apache Benchmark ab to conduct the benchmark.
Overview
| DigitalOcean | Linode | Vultr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | New York 1 | Newark, NJ | New York (NJ) |
| RAM | 1 GB | 1 GB | 1 GB |
| CPU | 1 Core | 1 Core | 1 Core |
| SSD | 25 GB | 20 GB | 25 GB |
| Transfer | 1 TB | 1 TB | 1 TB |
CPU Info
| DigitalOcean | Linode | Vultr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU MHz | 2200.01 | 2499.99 | 2396.30 |
| CPU BogoMips | 4400.01 | 4999.97 | 4792.60 |
CPU
| DigitalOcean | Linode | Vultr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total time (seconds) | 10.00 | 10.00 | 10.00 |
| Min (ms) | 1.17 | 1.24 | 1.13 |
| Avg (ms) | 1.33 | 1.36 | 1.31 |
| Max (ms) | 3.11 | 6.05 | 10.36 |
Memory (Read)
| DigitalOcean | Linode | Vultr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total time (seconds) | 10.00 | 10.00 | 10.00 |
| Min (ms) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Avg (ms) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Max (ms) | 0.81 | 7.63 | 5.91 |
Memory (Write)
| DigitalOcean | Linode | Vultr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total time (seconds) | 10.00 | 10.00 | 10.00 |
| Min (ms) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Avg (ms) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Max (ms) | 1.65 | 9.21 | 0.96 |
File I/O
| DigitalOcean | Linode | Vultr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total time (seconds) | 10.00 | 10.00 | 10.00 |
| Min (ms) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Avg (ms) | 0.08 | 0.13 | 0.14 |
| Max (ms) | 40.49 | 16.53 | 11.97 |
Speed Test
| DigitalOcean | Linode | Vultr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distance (km) | 2434.49 | 2421.10 | 1871.87 |
| Latency (ms) | 246.57 | 65.33 | 54.43 |
| Download (Mbit/s) | 1116.11 | 214.65 | 1369.89 |
| Upload (Mbit/s) | 502.70 | 175.89 | 483.75 |
Apache Benchmark (hitting nginx on the servers)
| DigitalOcean | Linode | Vultr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time taken for tests (seconds) | 1.67 | 1.69 | 1.49 |
| Requests per second (mean) | 6020.25 | 6011.23 | 6726.75 |
| Time per request (ms) (mean) | 166.71 | 168.91 | 149.05 |
| Transfer rate (Kbytes/sec) | 5050.20 | 5042.62 | 5640.41 |
Conclusion
Linode clocked the fastest CPU but definitely underperformed in a handful of category. Maybe not in the overall time taken, but falling short in regard to the max time taken to execute certain operations.
In the past, Linode has conquered most of the metrics so I’m unsure if I caught them on a bad day or if the gap is closing on Linode.
It makes sense that the other providers are starting to close in fast. I’m admittedly a big fan of Linode, but it’s hard not to notice their aging UI and the fact that the other provider’s offerings are becoming more sophisticated (block storage and more nuanced service tiers) and the easier to use (default SSH keys, turn key app installs, spinning up multiple servers, etc).
Vultr has continued to perform well on the networking side of things (albeit not the fasted upload speed this time around). What’s interesting is that one of my three Vultr instances clocked in at around ~850 km away from the server I was benchmarking against.
I’m assuming this was an error, but does beg the question is Vultr sometimes spins up boxes outside of the region you rest. Yeah, I know, conspiracy theory, much?
I tend to recommend Linode as a solid overall provider, but I’m switching it up this Memorial Day weekend. DigitalOcean has edged themselves into being a more consistent offering in my eyes. Couple that with their more modern and easier to use hosting options, they definitely make a great choice for somebody starting out and wanting a WordPress blog up to an experienced server admin looking for something a bit more advanced.
As always though, YMMV and I recommend that you weigh out your needs and pick the provider that best suits your needs.
If you found this article helpful and end up planning to go with any of the aforementioned providers, please do me a solid and sign up with my referral codes.
- DigitalOcean, new accounts receive $100 in credit (good for 60 days).
- Linode, new accounts receive $100 in credit (good for 60 days).
- UpCloud, new accounts receive $25 in credit.
- Vultr, new accounts receive $100 in credit (good for 30 days).
Or if you’re feeling really generous, show off your favorite tech stack by picking up a shirt!
