AMAZON S3 & EC2

PERFORMANCE REPORT

OVERVIEW
A frequently asked question regarding the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing
platform is how well their storage system (S3) performs with their computing platform (EC2).
As an FTP service that runs entirely within the AWS cloud, HostedFTP.com has, based on our
internal performance data, created this report to discuss the performance you can expect
when storing and retrieving files between an EC2 instance and S3.

We will also be reporting on how the AWS infrastructure performs over time. Each month we
will publish updates to the data to give you an insider’s view on how well AWS scales as they
continue to add capacity and customers.

THE PERFORMANCE MODEL

When storing or retrieving a file with S3 we expect the performance to be comprised of two
parts: a fixed cost that is not related to file size and a variable cost that is related to file size.
In other words, we expect a linear performance model for storing and retrieving files between
S3 and EC2.

With a linear performance model in mind we need to determine two values: the fixed cost
and the variable cost. The variable cost will be related to the size of the file being stored or
retrieved, the fixed cost can be thought of as an overhead or transaction cost.

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ANALYSIS
Our analysis focuses on the data presented in Appendix A and B

STORING FILES (SEE APPENDIX A)

For larger files the performance is much faster than with smaller files, implying that there is a
significant fixed cost for each storage operation. To determine the fixed cost we can perform
a linear regression. The following chart illustrates:

This chart shows that the fixed cost when storing a file is around 140 ms and the variable
cost is between 10 and 12 MB/s.

RETRIEVING FILES (SEE APPENDIX B )

The performance is consistent across all file sizes, implying there is no significant fixed
cost when retrieving a file. The variable cost is the same as when storing a file at between
10 and 12 MB/s.

CONCLUSION
From our analysis we can conclude the following:
1. The variable cost when storing and retrieving files is between 10 and 12 MB/s
2. The fixed cost when storing a file is roughly 140 ms and negligible when retrieving a file
As we move forward we will keep an eye on how these two values change.

ABOUT HOSTEDFTP.COM
HostedFTP.com is your hosted FTP service that runs 100% within the cloud infrastructure of
AWS. Designed for use with both web browsers and FTP clients, HostedFTP.com improves
your network security and saves your business money.
For more information please visit our website www.hostedftp.com

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METHODOLOGY
We tracked the number of milliseconds (ms) it takes to store and retrieve files from S3 using
large EC2 instances in the us-east-1a availability zone.We used the JetS3t Java Library to
handle the actual storing and retrieving of files which in turn uses the Commons HttpClient
Library.

We started the timer at the point when the file is being stored or retrieved to S3.
We included 50,000 total data points (stores and retrieves) in our analysis, drawn randomly
from the month of February. These data points cover all days of the week and hours of the day.

LIMITATIONS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

The maximum throughput (around 50 MB/s) you can expect when using S3 from a large EC2
instance is discussed here. Since we actively load balance our instances we don’t anticipate that
this limit had any discernible impact on our results.

To track the time it takes to store and retrieve a file we use the Java System.currentTimeMillis()
function. From the documentation on this function:

Note that while the unit of time of the return value is a millisecond, the granularity of the value
depends on the underlying operating system and may be larger. For example, many operating
systems measure time in units of tens of milliseconds.

Since we have a large number of data points at small file sizes this should have a very limited
impact on our results.

Our times do not include failed attempts to store or retrieve a file from S3.

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APPENDIX A
STORING A FILE

Sample size Average file Average Performance

File size range
size time (ms) (MB/s)
FROM TO
0 KB 100 KB 7658 44 KB 122 0.36
100 KB 200 KB 1922 157 KB 146 1.05
200 KB 300 KB 1574 250 KB 138 1.77
300 KB 400 KB 1562 347 KB 206 1.65
400 KB 500 KB 1014 451 KB 177 2.49
500 KB 600 KB 431 546 KB 173 3.08
600 KB 700 KB 545 655 KB 287 2.23
700 KB 800 KB 204 721 KB 192 3.66
800 KB 900 KB 113 845 KB 429 1.92
900 KB 1.0 MB 101 959 KB 327 2.86
1.0 MB 1.1 MB 118 1.02 MB 332 3.09
1.1 MB 1.2 MB 88 1.13 MB 243 4.62
1.2 MB 1.3 MB 78 1.22 MB 224 5.47
1.3 MB 1.4 MB 89 1.32 MB 315 4.18
1.4 MB 1.5 MB 88 1.42 MB 281 5.03
1.5 MB 1.6 MB 92 1.52 MB 261 5.81
1.6 MB 3.2 MB 1450 2.25 MB 554 4.06
3.2 MB 6.4 MB 862 4.7 MB 536 8.81
6.4 MB 12.8 MB 182 8.4 MB 1132 7.40
12.8 MB 25.6 MB 792 15.9 MB 1522 10.44
25.6 MB 51.2 MB 340 36.1 MB 3367 10.71
51.2 MB 102.4 MB 147 70.7 MB 6741 10.49
102.4 MB 5 GB 81 449.5 MB 37883 11.86

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APPENDIX B
RETRIEVING A FILE

Sample size Average file Average Performance

File size range
size time (ms) (MB/s)
FROM TO
0 KB 100 KB 11363 53 KB 5 10.18
100 KB 200 KB 3754 157 KB 16 9.52
200 KB 300 KB 2420 245 KB 27 8.72
300 KB 400 KB 2299 345 KB 36 9.30
400 KB 500 KB 1282 452 KB 45 9.80
500 KB 600 KB 603 552 KB 52 10.28
600 KB 700 KB 1007 654 KB 60 10.69
700 KB 800 KB 531 719 KB 66 10.60
800 KB 900 KB 185 844 KB 71 11.57
900 KB 1.0 MB 167 957 KB 71 13.17
1.0 MB 1.1 MB 202 1.02 MB 93 11.03
1.1 MB 1.2 MB 271 1.12 MB 106 10.57
1.2 MB 1.3 MB 168 1.22 MB 125 9.80
1.3 MB 1.4 MB 156 1.32 MB 117 11.26
1.4 MB 1.5 MB 125 1.41 MB 159 8.87
1.5 MB 1.6 MB 148 1.52 MB 140 10.84
1.6 MB 3.2 MB 2043 2.30 MB 186 12.37
3.2 MB 6.4 MB 1382 4.63 MB 435 10.63
6.4 MB 12.8 MB 485 8.43 MB 833 10.12
12.8 MB 25.6 MB 935 16.11 MB 1405 11.47
25.6 MB 51.2 MB 636 35.90 MB 3878 9.26
51.2 MB 102.4 MB 202 69.71 MB 7003 9.95
102.4 MB 5 GB 105 390.47 MB 35081 11.13

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Amazon S3 and EC2 Performance Report Presented By HostedFTP.com - February 2009