lil-bit And speedy-1 Testing Environment
Last updated: November 2 2024
Table of contents
I run a lot of database benchmarks and constantly paying for cloud services was getting expensive. So, I purchased two Intel mini PCs and a networking switch to simulate a modern cloud environment.
I call these two PCs lil-bit and speedy-1.
CPUs
The mini PCs are 11th gen Intel NUCS. Specifically, they are:
- lil-bit is an NUC11PAHi50Z00, which has an i5-1135G7 processor.
- speedy-1 is an NUC11PAHi70Z00, which has an i7-1165G7 processor.
During tests, I put databases on speedy-1 because it has the faster processor. Reserva is less CPU intensive than the database programs, so it doesn’t become a bottleneck even when deployed on a slightly slower CPU.
Both chips have 4 hyperthreaded cores for a total of 8 threads. This makes them comparable to an 8 vCPU VM that you might rent in the cloud. They also have a TDP of 28 watts, which I have measured during load. In fact, these computers are well cooled and sometimes even surpass 28 watts!
RAM / Disks
I purchased high quality RAM and SSDs to get the most out of these mini PCs. They are both outfitted with:
- 64 GB, dual-channel 3200 MHz Kingston Fury RAM
- 4 TB Samsung 990 Pro PCIe 4 SSD
It is well known that databases can become bottlenecked by slow disks, so I paid particular attention to my choice of SSD. The Samsung 990 Pro is, as far as I’m aware, one of the fastest PCIe 4 disks available on the market.
Networking
I initially conducted tests using my M1 MacBook Air connected to one of the mini PCs via WiFi. However, I noticed right away how much that relatively poor connection slowed down the benchmark results. So, I went all in and purchased:
- A Netgear MS305 2.5 gigabit networking switch
- Rhino Cables cat6a ethernet cables.
This brought my network latency, as measured with ping, from several milliseconds down to around 0.65 milliseconds. This imperceptibly small difference in latency made a huge difference in my end test results. So, pay attention to networking, folks!
Comparable cloud instances
Here are a couple of comparable database servers with 8 vCPUs and 64 GB of RAM from AWS and Azure:
Before storage, it would cost about $846.72 per month to rent a similar machine on AWS.
Despite their size, lil-bit and speedy-1 are powerful computers with resources that resemble a busy, production quality cloud system.