High Quality
Open the downloaded document, and select print from the file menu (PDF reader required).
AMAZON S3 & EC2PERFORMANCE REPORT
OVERVIEW
A frequently asked question regarding the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computingplatform 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 ourinternal performance data, created this report to discuss the performance you can expectwhen 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 wewill publish updates to the data to give you an insider’s view on how well AWS scales as theycontinue to add capacity and customers.
THE PERFORMANCE MODEL
When storing or retrieving a file with S3 we expect the performance to be comprised of twoparts: a fixed cost
ha is n
related to file size and a variable cost
ha is
related to file size.In other words, we expect a linear performance model for storing and retrieving files betweenS3 and EC2.With a linear performance model in mind we need to determine two values: the fixed costand the variable cost. The variable cost will be related to the size of the file being stored orretrieved, the fixed cost can be thought of as an overhead or transaction cost.
Amazon S3 and EC2 Performance Report Presented By HostedFTP.com - February 2009
1
AMAZON S3 & EC2PERFORMANCE REPORT
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 asignificant fixed cost for each storage operation. To determine the fixed cost we can performa linear regression. The following chart illustrates:This chart shows that the fixed cost when storing a file is around
140 ms
and the variablecost 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 fixedcost 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/s2.
The fixed cost when storing a file is roughly
140 ms
and negligible when retrieving a fileAs 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 ofAWS. Designed for use with both web browsers and FTP clients, HostedFTP.com improves your network security and saves your business money.
F me infmain pease isi u websie www.hsedfp.m
Amazon S3 and EC2 Performance Report Presented By HostedFTP.com - February 2009
2
AMAZON S3 & EC2PERFORMANCE REPORT
METHODOLOGY
We tracked the number of milliseconds (ms) it takes to store and retrieve files from S3 usinglarge EC2 instances in the us-east-1a availability zone.We used the JetS3t Java Library tohandle the actual storing and retrieving of files which in turn uses the Commons HttpClientLibrary.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 randomlyfrom 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 EC2instance 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 valuedepends on the underlying operating system and may be larger. For example, many operatingsystems 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 limitedimpact on our results.Our times do not include failed attempts to store or retrieve a file from S3.
Amazon S3 and EC2 Performance Report Presented By HostedFTP.com - February 2009
3
Add a Comment