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fio VS Apache Benchmark

Compare fio VS Apache Benchmark and see what are their differences

fio logo fio

Generate I/O for benchmarking, stress testing, verification or workload reproduction purposes.

Apache Benchmark logo Apache Benchmark

ab is a tool for benchmarking your web server.
  • fio Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-15
  • Apache Benchmark Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-05-31

fio features and specs

  • Highly Flexible
    Fio is highly configurable, allowing users to simulate various types of workloads with detailed parameters. This flexibility makes it suitable for a wide range of performance testing scenarios, including block devices, files, and networked filesystems.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Fio is designed to work on multiple operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and macOS. This cross-platform support enhances its usability in diverse environments and facilitates testing across different systems.
  • Rich Feature Set
    Fio supports a multitude of I/O engines, including sync, mmap, libaio, posixaio, and others. Additionally, it allows for dynamic generation of patterns, scripting via functions, and varied reporting formats, which are ideal for comprehensive performance analysis.
  • Active Development and Support
    Being an open-source tool with a large community, fio receives regular updates and improvements from contributors, ensuring that it remains robust and relevant for modern testing needs.
  • Detailed Reporting
    Fio provides detailed and customizable output formats, such as JSON and normal text, which help users analyze performance metrics in depth and facilitate easy integration into performance testing workflows.

Possible disadvantages of fio

  • Complexity for Beginners
    The extensive configuration options, while powerful, can be overwhelming for new users. It may take time and effort to learn how to effectively use fio and interpret its results without prior experience in performance testing.
  • Limited GUI Support
    Fio primarily operates from the command line, lacking a native graphical user interface (GUI). This can limit its accessibility for users who prefer visual tools and may require additional tooling or scripts for enhanced usability.
  • Resource-Intensive
    Running fio with complex workloads or on large-scale systems can be resource-intensive, potentially affecting other processes on the test system. Users need to ensure that appropriate resources are available to avoid skewed test results.
  • Steep Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    For users seeking to employ advanced features like custom scripting or network testing, understanding the full scope of fio's capabilities and configuration syntax can be challenging without comprehensive documentation or community support.

Apache Benchmark features and specs

  • Simplicity
    Apache Benchmark is straightforward to use with a simple command-line interface, allowing users to quickly conduct basic load testing on web servers without a steep learning curve.
  • Speed
    Because it is a command-line tool, Apache Benchmark executes quickly and can generate a significant amount of traffic with minimal system resource usage.
  • Wide Availability
    As part of the Apache HTTP Server project, it is widely available on most Unix-based systems and easy to install on others, making it accessible for most developers.
  • Open Source
    Apache Benchmark is open-source software, providing full access to the source code for customization and ensuring there are no costs associated with its usage.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Benchmark

  • Limited Features
    Apache Benchmark is quite limited in its capabilities, providing only basic performance metrics and lacking features such as detailed reporting, analysis, and support for different types of HTTP requests.
  • No GUI
    It doesnโ€™t come with a graphical user interface, which could be a barrier for users who prefer visual representations and more interactive usage.
  • Single URL Testing
    The tool is only capable of testing one URL at a time, which can be a limitation when assessing the performance of more complex, multi-page applications.
  • Limited to HTTP
    Apache Benchmark only supports HTTP and HTTPS protocols, which can be restrictive for testing applications using other protocols.
  • Limited Scalability
    Due to its basic nature, it might not handle very large-scale load testing efficiently and may require additional tools or setups to simulate more extensive server loads.

fio videos

MAZAYA CHAMBRA FIO | Review [+18]

More videos:

  • Review - Como escolher minhas tesouras (Fio, Tamanho e material) - REVIEW #15
  • Review - Os MELHORES fones sem fio de 2020? (Review)

Apache Benchmark videos

Apache Benchmarking using AB in linux

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to fio and Apache Benchmark)
Monitoring Tools
78 78%
22% 22
Utilities
100 100%
0% 0
Website Testing
0 0%
100% 100
Hard Drive Tools
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using fio and Apache Benchmark. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, fio seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 14 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

fio mentions (14)

  • Dire SMB speed with on PC to NAS
    Assuming two systems use flash storage, network bandwidth is identical and it is configured the same way, there should be an issue within the PC, either system or storage drive. Check the system logs for errors and warning events related to data transfer from/to NAS. Try to benchmark the PCs' disks using fio to confirm they have similar performance. https://github.com/axboe/fio. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: What are some good resources for learning about low level disk/file IO?
    Not specifically addressing your question, but when you get to the point of wanting to start doing some experiments you may find that 'fio' [1] is very handy. [1] https://github.com/axboe/fio. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • KVM virtual machines on ZFS benchmarks
    The dd is not a good benchmarking tool, you should use something like fio and probably tune it to use the ioengine most similar to your use case (eg. a database server will probably use some async IO interface). In your first example (with bs=1G) probably something (the guest OS, the qemu/kvm or the host OS) have split into smaller chunks anyway. Source: over 2 years ago
  • SSD Sequential Write Slowdowns
    All linux tests are run with fio 3.32 (github) with future commit 03900b0bf8af625bb43b10f0627b3c5947c3ff79 manually applied. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Just write the f*****g parser.
    Agree, I used flex/yacc to add an arithmetic expression evaluator to fio a few years back to allow simple math with some units in fio's job files, and for stuff like that, they're fine, but I wouldn't want to use them for a real language, the error handling is kind of a nightmare. Source: over 2 years ago
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Apache Benchmark mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Apache Benchmark yet. Tracking of Apache Benchmark recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing fio and Apache Benchmark, you can also consider the following products

CrystalMark - CrystalMark is a full included benchmark application that can be utilized for surveying the execution and capacities of a PC.

WebLOAD - WebLOAD - The most flexible and cost effective software for enterprise load, stress and performance testing, integrated with DevOps processes. Click for details

Blackmagic Disk Speed Test - Blackmagic Disk Speed Test is a tool that allows users to quickly measure disk performance while working on it.

StresStimulus - Load testing tool for websites and mobile that works with hard-to-test applications.

CrystalDiskInfo - CrystalDiskInfo. A HDD/SSD utility software which supports a part of USB connection and Intel RAID. >> Download. Intel RAID (IRST). IRST 11.

LoadComplete - The only load testing tool to record, replay, and test in real browsers at scale.