Benchmarking Scaleway's internal bandwidth
While I was having fun planning a few personal deployments on Scaleway’s infrastructure, I wondered what was the internal bandwidth allocated to the VPS. They provide those numbers for the bare metal instances but I haven’t been able to find anything about the VPS.
I ran a few benchmarks with the iperf tool to get a rough idea. I’m
testing with a C1, two C2S, a VC1S and a VC1M.
Let’s point out that those are quick and dirty benchmarks, that I’m no networking expert, that I haven’t paid attention to actual server location in the DC and that I know nothing about their network topology.
C2S <-> C1
Server is on the C2S.
10s test
# iperf3 -c 10.1.177.79 -i 0 -t 10 -P 4
Connecting to host 10.1.177.79, port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Retr
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 3.26 MBytes 2.73 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 3.03 MBytes 2.54 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 3.19 MBytes 2.68 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 2.93 MBytes 2.46 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 2.92 MBytes 2.45 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 2.67 MBytes 2.24 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.09 GBytes 932 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.08 GBytes 931 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.09 GBytes 940 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.09 GBytes 938 Mbits/sec receiver
60s test
# iperf3 -c 10.1.177.79 -i 0 -t 60 -P 4
Connecting to host 10.1.177.79, port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Retr
[ 4] 0.00-60.00 sec 608 MBytes 85.1 Mbits/sec 16956 sender
[ 4] 0.00-60.00 sec 608 MBytes 85.0 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-60.00 sec 3.12 GBytes 447 Mbits/sec 21754 sender
[ 6] 0.00-60.00 sec 3.12 GBytes 447 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-60.00 sec 628 MBytes 87.8 Mbits/sec 17429 sender
[ 8] 0.00-60.00 sec 627 MBytes 87.6 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-60.00 sec 640 MBytes 89.4 Mbits/sec 17473 sender
[ 10] 0.00-60.00 sec 639 MBytes 89.3 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-60.00 sec 4.96 GBytes 709 Mbits/sec 73612 sender
[SUM] 0.00-60.00 sec 4.95 GBytes 709 Mbits/sec receiver
C2S <-> VC1S
Server is on the C2S.
10s test
# iperf3 -c 10.1.177.79 -i 0 -t 10 -P 4
Connecting to host 10.1.177.79, port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Retr
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 236 MBytes 198 Mbits/sec 13850 sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 232 MBytes 195 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 272 MBytes 228 Mbits/sec 19402 sender
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 269 MBytes 226 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 282 MBytes 236 Mbits/sec 19631 sender
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 278 MBytes 234 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 245 MBytes 206 Mbits/sec 13561 sender
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 242 MBytes 203 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.01 GBytes 868 Mbits/sec 66444 sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1021 MBytes 857 Mbits/sec receiver
60s test
# iperf3 -c 10.1.177.79 -i 0 -t 60 -P 4
Connecting to host 10.1.177.79, port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Retr
[ 4] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.08 GBytes 155 Mbits/sec 73971 sender
[ 4] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.08 GBytes 154 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.06 GBytes 152 Mbits/sec 80689 sender
[ 6] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.06 GBytes 151 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.13 GBytes 161 Mbits/sec 78828 sender
[ 8] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.12 GBytes 161 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.21 GBytes 173 Mbits/sec 76258 sender
[ 10] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.21 GBytes 173 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-60.00 sec 4.48 GBytes 641 Mbits/sec 309746 sender
[SUM] 0.00-60.00 sec 4.47 GBytes 639 Mbits/sec receiver
C2S <-> VC1M
Server is on the C2S.
10s test
# iperf3 -c 10.1.177.79 -i 0 -t 10 -P 4
Connecting to host 10.1.177.79, port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Retr
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 293 MBytes 246 Mbits/sec 15119 sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 290 MBytes 243 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 210 MBytes 176 Mbits/sec 15404 sender
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 206 MBytes 173 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 221 MBytes 186 Mbits/sec 15135 sender
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 218 MBytes 183 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 310 MBytes 260 Mbits/sec 18411 sender
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 306 MBytes 257 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.01 GBytes 867 Mbits/sec 64069 sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1020 MBytes 856 Mbits/sec receiver
60s test
# iperf3 -c 10.1.177.79 -i 0 -t 60 -P 4
Connecting to host 10.1.177.79, port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Retr
[ 4] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.18 GBytes 168 Mbits/sec 96255 sender
[ 4] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.17 GBytes 168 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.19 GBytes 171 Mbits/sec 89608 sender
[ 6] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.19 GBytes 170 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.06 GBytes 152 Mbits/sec 84641 sender
[ 8] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.06 GBytes 152 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.05 GBytes 150 Mbits/sec 89153 sender
[ 10] 0.00-60.00 sec 1.04 GBytes 149 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-60.00 sec 4.48 GBytes 641 Mbits/sec 359657 sender
[SUM] 0.00-60.00 sec 4.46 GBytes 639 Mbits/sec receiver
C2S <-> C2S
10s test
iperf3 -c 10.1.177.79 -i 0 -t 10 -P 4
Connecting to host 10.1.177.79, port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Retr
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 468 MBytes 393 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 468 MBytes 392 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 936 MBytes 785 Mbits/sec 2 sender
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 935 MBytes 785 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 468 MBytes 393 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 468 MBytes 392 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 936 MBytes 785 Mbits/sec 1 sender
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 935 MBytes 785 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 2.74 GBytes 2.36 Gbits/sec 3 sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 2.74 GBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec receiver
60s test
# iperf3 -c 10.1.177.79 -i 0 -t 10 -P 4
Connecting to host 10.1.177.79, port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Retr
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 468 MBytes 393 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 468 MBytes 392 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 936 MBytes 785 Mbits/sec 2 sender
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 935 MBytes 785 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 468 MBytes 393 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 468 MBytes 392 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 936 MBytes 785 Mbits/sec 1 sender
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 935 MBytes 785 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 2.74 GBytes 2.36 Gbits/sec 3 sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 2.74 GBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec receiver
At least a benchmark with expected results :)
Conclusion
So, it seems there’s some burst mechanism in place for C1 and VPS, allowing you to access the claimed bandwidth for a few seconds, then throttling you to around 600Mbits/s.
On the VPS, the birst time is about 1-2 seconds. Let’s add that the network card seems shared with other users on the same physical server (Yeah, kinda logical). So your actual interal bandwidth can vary and drop below the 600Mbits/s depending on the servermates usage.
On the C1, the burst time is around 20s, which seems reasonnable for a lot of use cases.
On the C2S, I haven’t been able to notice such a burst time limit, but I haven’t been patient enough to test it for more than a minute.
Finally, I’ve mixed feeling about this issue. I’m kinda disappointed about this burst thing on VPS/C1, but on the other hand, it’s still a great value for 2 euros per month :D