Resources aren’t everything – Can your dedicated servers handle your required IOPS?
Put processors, RAM and storage space to the side for a moment. One of the most overlooked factors when deciding on a UK dedicated server provider is IOPS (Input/output operations per second). It is a single factor that could severely damage your server’s ability to process data, but ensuring you have a good IOPS will mean you get the most bang for your buck.
Why does IOPS matter?
IOPS has to do with the speed of your server. It is the way we measure how many read/write operations per second a machine is able to compute. The faster the IOPS, the better your speed. An easy way to think about it is the comparison between SSDs and SATA hard drives. SSDs are able to copy files much faster than SATA drives. That’s because the read/write speed is higher, and that read/write speed is similar to an IOPS measurement.
If your server will be completing millions of tiny tasks, your IOPS could hobble your entire processing system. For companies processing big data and a high volume of analytics calculations, a high IOPS is vital. No matter how much ram or processing power you pour into your dedicated server, IOPS is king.
IOPS and RAID
Be aware that the RAID setting of your dedicated server will directly influence your IOPS measurement. The RAID system is in place to protect your server from hardware failure and increase redundancy. However, a system that is overly redundant will have a slow IOPS value.
What IOPS do you need?
If the calculations you need your dedicated server to do are not intensive, you don’t need to worry too much about your IOPS. If you are running a basic website and small business from your dedicated server, it probably won’t be worth the effort. However, if you have a busy eCommerce site that needs to process thousands of orders a day, you need to check your IOPS. Big tasks that require lots of individual commands will benefit from a good IOPS speed. You can check your network’s current IOPS by using this opensource tool.
If you need some help or want to look at possible solutions for your UK dedicated servers, then feel free to get in touch.