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You are working on a VPS server, you know all the benefits of virtual servers, you're convinced that you'll work much better than before, you've been promised incredible speed and stellar server parameters, but is it really so?
We will show you several practical tips to get to know your VPS server better and assess whether you are really getting what you pay for.
Providing servers to clients is now easy. You can buy second-hand servers, find a friend with a good Internet connection, and hook them up. Expenses are minimal and the revenue – decent... If you don’t want to deceive your customers and want to protect yourself from scams, follow our seven golden rules:
Check number one:
Do I have a real VPS server or just a container?
(Important: Container technologies are not bad in themselves! Docker and similar technologies have many advantages. The important thing is to know what you are using.) To find out if you have a real VPS server or just a container, you can use the following checks:
1. Can you connect to the server as root?
Check if your user is really root. Does your user actually have ID 0 (zero)? Can you create a file in a system directory (for example, /sbin)? Can you modify it?
Sample commands and the expected correct responses:
root@VPS:#~ whoami
root
root@VPS:#~ id
uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root)
root@VPS:#~ touch /sbin/smalltest
root@VPS:#~ ls /sbin/smalltest
/sbin/smalltest
root@VPS:#~ mv /sbin/fsck.msdos /tmp/
root@VPS:#~ mv /tmp/fsck.msdos /sbin/
Example responses indicating a problem:
root@VPS:#~ touch /sbin/smalltest
touch: cannot touch '/sbin/smalltest': Permission denied
This result shows that Root is actually not real root:
root@VPS:#~ id
uid=1001(root) gid=1001(root) groups=1001(root)
2. Can you add SWAP to the system (from a file or partition?)
If you get an error like: swapon: /tmp/SWAP: swapon failed: Operation not permitted
this means you are on a container, not a real VPS server.
Example of correct SWAP addition:
root@VPS:#~ free -m | grep Swap
Swap: 0 0 0
root@VPS:#~ dd if=/dev/zero OF=SWAP bs=1M count=10
dd: unrecognized operand ‘OF=SWAP’
Try 'dd --help' for more information.
root@VPS:#~ free -m | grep Swap
Swap: 0 0 0
root@VPS:#~ dd if=/dev/zero of=SWAP bs=1M count=10
10+0 records in
10+0 records out
10485760 bytes (10 MB, 10 MiB) copied, 0.0507022 s, 207 MB/s
root@VPS:#~ chmod 600 SWAP; mkswap SWAP
Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 10 MiB (10481664 bytes)
no label, UUID=a7c8bdba-b866-461b-8c38-8cb10528720e
root@VPS:#~ swapon SWAP
root@VPS:#~ free -m | grep Swap
Swap: 9 0 9
root@VPS:#~ swapoff SWAP
Example showing a problem:
root@VPS:#~ dd if=/dev/zero of=SWAP bs=1M count=10
10+0 records in
10+0 records out
10485760 bytes (10 MB, 10 MiB) copied, 0.00529951 s, 2.0 GB/s
root@VPS:#~ chmod 600 SWAP; mkswap SWAP
Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 10 MiB (10481664 bytes)
no label, UUID=0da12fe6-f65e-4fa5-9d2c-43913ae2f51e
root@VPS:#~ swapon SWAP
swapon: /root/SWAP: swapon failed: Operation not permitted
3. Can you update the kernel?
Try to update the system and install a different kernel. If the system doesn't allow you to do this, then you are not on a VPS server.
Sample result when kernel upgrade fails:
E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (13: Permission denied)
E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), are you root?
Sample of successful kernel upgrade:
Example is for Ubuntu/Debian-based distributions
root@VPS:#~ apt-get upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
0 to upgrade, 0 to newly install, 0 to remove and 0 not to upgrade.
root@VPS:#~ apt-get upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
0 to upgrade, 0 to newly install, 0 to remove and 0 not to upgrade.
root@VPS:#~ apt-get install linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed
linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04
0 to upgrade, 1 to newly install, 0 to remove and 0 not to upgrade.
Need to get 0 B/1,872 B of archives.
After this operation, 14.3 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Selecting previously unselected package linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04.
(Reading database ... 253011 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04_4.15.0.22.23_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04 (4.15.0.22.23) ...
Setting up linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04 (4.15.0.22.23) ...
Check number two:
Does the server really have the promised parameters?
4. Can you rely on consistent Internet speed?
Try to upload a file and download it at different times and/or from different locations. An inconsistent or poor result is a sign of problems with the Internet connection—yours or the server's.
IMPORTANT: Be careful not to overdo the tests! Some providers have limits on total traffic use, not just speed! Very long tests may even result in extra charges in your bill!
Sample result for measuring upload and download speed of a file from the server:
root@MY-HOST:#~ scp 150MB.file root@VPS:/tmp/
root@vps's password:
150MB.file 100% 150MB 56.8MB/s 00:02
root@MY-HOST:#~scp root@VPS:/tmp/150MB.file .
root@vps's password:
150MB.file 100% 150MB 48.3MB/s 00:03
5. Can you rely on consistent CPU speed?
Try compressing a file of about 5 MB. Measure the time it takes for the operation. Repeat the experiment several times (on weekdays and weekends, at different hours). Download the file and archive it on your side. If the results vary or are too weak—something is wrong.
IMPORTANT: Be careful not to overdo the tests! Most providers have limits on CPU usage time. Very long tests can even result in additional charges in your bill!
Example with a 5 MB file test to be repeated several times throughout the day:
time bzip2 YourTestFile -9
real 0m2.026s
user 0m2.007s
sys 0m0.016s
6. Are my disks okay? Is the SSD drive really an SSD?
Use a disk testing program. Even very slow disks have relatively good file copy speeds. For servers, the number of IOPS (input/output operations per second) is more important. Measure it, for example, with fio. Hard disks should be able to show at least 100 IOPS. SSDs—at least 5000, ideally over 10,000.
IMPORTANT: Be careful not to overdo the tests! Some providers have limits on disk operations! Very long tests may even result in extra charges in your bill!
root@VPS:#~ fio --randrepeat=1 --ioengine=libaio --direct=1 --gtod_reduce=1 --name=YOUR-TEST --filename=YOUR-TEST --bs=4k --iodepth=64 --size=5G --readwrite=randrw --rwmixread=50 --output-format=json --output=YOUR-TEST.json
After the command completes, compare the IOPS columns in the results
"fio version" : "fio-2.2.10",
"timestamp" : 1503311160,
.............
"read" : {
"io_bytes" : 7867132,
"bw" : 132238,
"iops" : 33059.62,
.............
"write" : {
"io_bytes" : 2618628,
"bw" : 44016,
"iops" : 11004.12,
Your server delivers good speeds? Congratulations!
Next is an advanced check.
7. Could my server be very old?
In general, checking for up-to-date server components is relatively difficult. Check what CPU model you have and until when it was manufactured. Manufacturer's sites indicate the dates when CPUs were released. Usually, they hit the market 3–6 months later. Servers have a normal lifespan of about three years. This gives an approximate indication.
root@VPS:#~ cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -i 'model name' | head -n 1
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1650 v4 @ 3.60GHz
According to the manufacturer:
Status Launched
Launch Date Q2'16
At the beginning of June 2018, this server is between 0 and 12–18 months old.
Example of an old CPU:
root@VPS:#~ cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -i 'model name' | head -n 1
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU L5630 @ 2.13GHz
Status Discontinued
Launch Date Q1'10
Attention! The server is probably second-hand or just very old. The manufacturer states a release date at the beginning of 2010, which means it could be over eight years old! Older servers are more prone to failures, and there is a risk of component failure.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us.
The AbsCloud team will assist you with a free consultation. Find the right solution for your business server: Contact
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