99Stack South Africa Johannesburg Intel Xeon Processor Standard Instance Test and Review

We recently evaluated the 99Stack South Africa Johannesburg Standard Instance, which is equipped with an impressive Intel Xeon Processor (Cascadelake), 2-core CPU, 4 GB RAM, 80 GB SSD storage, a 1 Gbps internet port, 3 TB of traffic, and support for both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. Our testing covered a variety of performance metrics to see how well this setup holds up under different scenarios.

About 99Stack

In the ever-evolving world of technology, one name stands out when it comes to cloud computing: 99Stack Cloud. This platform is revolutionizing how we think about cloud services, offering a decentralized approach that puts privacy first.

Firstly, 99Stack Cloud boasts a global presence. It serves areas typically under-served by other cloud providers and the major popular regions. This means you can boost your global presence with public cloud resources on every continent near your customers.

Secondly, 99Stack Cloud takes privacy seriously. They do not collect more than the absolute minimum amount of personal information required to establish a contract. You can even top up your balance with any major cryptocurrency, including privacy coins.

Thirdly, 99Stack Cloud is powered by a wide range of fully independent data center operators. This allows you to manage your public cloud resources through a unified UI without vendor lock-in or centralized dependencies.

Moreover, all of 99Stack Cloud’s services are powered by KVM virtualization. This ensures security, redundancy, and maximum performance. Plus, they offer a fully responsive web-based control panel. This makes managing everything on your desktop, laptop, or mobile device easy.

Official Website: https://www.99stack.com

BasicBench: Server Profile, I/O Speed, Upload and Download Speed

 CPU Model          : Intel Xeon Processor (Cascadelake)
 CPU Cores          : 2 @ 2992.966 MHz
 CPU Cache          : 16384 KB
 AES-NI             : ✓ Enabled
 VM-x/AMD-V         : ✗ Disabled
 Total Disk         : 82.8 GB (10.6 GB Used)
 Total Mem          : 3.8 GB (260.2 MB Used)
 Total Swap         : 7.7 GB (524.0 KB Used)
 System uptime      : 0 days, 0 hour 9 min
 Load average       : 0.05, 0.13, 0.09
 OS                 : Debian GNU/Linux 11
 Arch               : x86_64 (64 Bit)
 Kernel             : 5.10.0-28-amd64
 TCP CC             : bbr
 Virtualization     : KVM
 IPv4/IPv6          : ✓ Online / ✓ Online
 Organization       : AS20473 The Constant Company, LLC
 Location           : Benoni / ZA
 Region             : Gauteng
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 I/O Speed(1st run) : 1.1 GB/s
 I/O Speed(2nd run) : 1.1 GB/s
 I/O Speed(3rd run) : 1.1 GB/s
 I/O Speed(average) : 1126.4 MB/s
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Node Name        Upload Speed      Download Speed      Latency     
 Speedtest.net    7422.39 Mbps      7846.56 Mbps        0.35 ms     
 Los Angeles, US  273.70 Mbps       3142.07 Mbps        294.70 ms   
 Dallas, US       279.74 Mbps       3063.89 Mbps        272.50 ms   
 Montreal, CA     319.85 Mbps       938.52 Mbps         262.58 ms   
 Amsterdam, NL    557.42 Mbps       1490.16 Mbps        166.41 ms   
 Hongkong, CN     4.22 Mbps         0.09 Mbps           268.37 ms   
 Mumbai, IN       688.30 Mbps       6026.35 Mbps        280.29 ms   
 Singapore, SG    41.27 Mbps        9.80 Mbps           478.94 ms   
 Tokyo, JP        268.31 Mbps       1282.66 Mbps        293.79 ms   
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Finished in        : 6 min 21 sec
 Timestamp          : 2024-05-06 00:28:16 UTC

YabsBench: Disk Speed, iperf3 Network Speed, Geekbench 6 Benchmark

Basic System Information:
---------------------------------
Uptime     : 0 days, 0 hours, 18 minutes
Processor  : Intel Xeon Processor (Cascadelake)
CPU cores  : 2 @ 2992.966 MHz
AES-NI     : ✔ Enabled
VM-x/AMD-V : ❌ Disabled
RAM        : 3.8 GiB
Swap       : 7.7 GiB
Disk       : 75.1 GiB
Distro     : Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)
Kernel     : 5.10.0-28-amd64
VM Type    : MICROSOFT
IPv4/IPv6  : ✔ Online / ✔ Online

IPv6 Network Information:
---------------------------------
ISP        : The Constant Company, LLC
ASN        : AS20473 The Constant Company, LLC
Host       : The Constant Company, LLC
Location   : Durbanville, Western Cape (WC)
Country    : South Africa

fio Disk Speed Tests (Mixed R/W 50/50):
---------------------------------
Block Size | 4k            (IOPS) | 64k           (IOPS)
  ------   | ---            ----  | ----           ---- 
Read       | 430.94 MB/s (107.7k) | 1.39 GB/s    (21.7k)
Write      | 432.08 MB/s (108.0k) | 1.39 GB/s    (21.8k)
Total      | 863.02 MB/s (215.7k) | 2.79 GB/s    (43.6k)
           |                      |                     
Block Size | 512k          (IOPS) | 1m            (IOPS)
  ------   | ---            ----  | ----           ---- 
Read       | 1.49 GB/s     (2.9k) | 1.81 GB/s     (1.7k)
Write      | 1.57 GB/s     (3.0k) | 1.93 GB/s     (1.8k)
Total      | 3.07 GB/s     (6.0k) | 3.74 GB/s     (3.6k)

iperf3 Network Speed Tests (IPv4):
---------------------------------
Provider        | Location (Link)           | Send Speed      | Recv Speed      | Ping           
Clouvider       | London, UK (10G)          | 969 Mbits/sec   | 717 Mbits/sec   | 166 ms         
Eranium         | Amsterdam, NL (100G)      | 5.61 Gbits/sec  | busy            | --             
Telia           | Helsinki, FI (10G)        | busy            | busy            | 204 ms         
Uztelecom       | Tashkent, UZ (10G)        | 1.60 Gbits/sec  | busy            | 248 ms         
Leaseweb        | Singapore, SG (10G)       | 2.40 Gbits/sec  | 630 Mbits/sec   | 289 ms         
Clouvider       | Los Angeles, CA, US (10G) | 489 Mbits/sec   | busy            | 292 ms         
Leaseweb        | NYC, NY, US (10G)         | 2.28 Gbits/sec  | 1.23 Gbits/sec  | 238 ms         
Edgoo           | Sao Paulo, BR (1G)        | busy            | 330 Mbits/sec   | 348 ms         

iperf3 Network Speed Tests (IPv6):
---------------------------------
Provider        | Location (Link)           | Send Speed      | Recv Speed      | Ping           
Clouvider       | London, UK (10G)          | 1.00 Gbits/sec  | 1.29 Gbits/sec  | 166 ms         
Eranium         | Amsterdam, NL (100G)      | busy            | busy            | --             
Uztelecom       | Tashkent, UZ (10G)        | 1.03 Gbits/sec  | 1.63 Gbits/sec  | 247 ms         
Leaseweb        | Singapore, SG (10G)       | 2.36 Gbits/sec  | 1.37 Gbits/sec  | 289 ms         
Clouvider       | Los Angeles, CA, US (10G) | 498 Mbits/sec   | 343 Mbits/sec   | 292 ms         
Leaseweb        | NYC, NY, US (10G)         | 3.00 Gbits/sec  | 2.60 Gbits/sec  | 238 ms         
Edgoo           | Sao Paulo, BR (1G)        | busy            | 1.74 Gbits/sec  | 349 ms         

Geekbench 6 Benchmark Test:
---------------------------------
Test            | Value                         
                |                               
Single Core     | 1162                          
Multi Core      | 2054                          
Full Test       | https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/5979821

YABS completed in 20 min 55 sec

UnixBench: CPU Performance, A Score Higher is Better

Benchmark Run: Mon May 06 2024 00:52:02 - 01:20:02
2 CPUs in system; running 1 parallel copy of tests

Dhrystone 2 using register variables       45076745.0 lps   (10.0 s, 7 samples)
Double-Precision Whetstone                     6806.9 MWIPS (9.9 s, 7 samples)
Execl Throughput                               3890.8 lps   (30.0 s, 2 samples)
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks        435782.2 KBps  (30.0 s, 2 samples)
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks          123305.8 KBps  (30.0 s, 2 samples)
File Copy 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks       1098505.0 KBps  (30.0 s, 2 samples)
Pipe Throughput                              675549.4 lps   (10.0 s, 7 samples)
Pipe-based Context Switching                  80496.9 lps   (10.0 s, 7 samples)
Process Creation                               7598.4 lps   (30.0 s, 2 samples)
Shell Scripts (1 concurrent)                   8569.4 lpm   (60.0 s, 2 samples)
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent)                   1579.5 lpm   (60.0 s, 2 samples)
System Call Overhead                         329770.2 lps   (10.0 s, 7 samples)

System Benchmarks Index Values               BASELINE       RESULT    INDEX
Dhrystone 2 using register variables         116700.0   45076745.0   3862.6
Double-Precision Whetstone                       55.0       6806.9   1237.6
Execl Throughput                                 43.0       3890.8    904.8
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks          3960.0     435782.2   1100.5
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks            1655.0     123305.8    745.1
File Copy 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks          5800.0    1098505.0   1894.0
Pipe Throughput                               12440.0     675549.4    543.0
Pipe-based Context Switching                   4000.0      80496.9    201.2
Process Creation                                126.0       7598.4    603.1
Shell Scripts (1 concurrent)                     42.4       8569.4   2021.1
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent)                      6.0       1579.5   2632.6
System Call Overhead                          15000.0     329770.2    219.8
                                                                   ========
System Benchmarks Index Score                                         946.6

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benchmark Run: Mon May 06 2024 01:20:02 - 01:48:05
2 CPUs in system; running 2 parallel copies of tests

Dhrystone 2 using register variables       88943050.5 lps   (10.0 s, 7 samples)
Double-Precision Whetstone                    13664.3 MWIPS (9.9 s, 7 samples)
Execl Throughput                               6721.8 lps   (29.6 s, 2 samples)
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks        729162.4 KBps  (30.0 s, 2 samples)
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks          177453.7 KBps  (30.0 s, 2 samples)
File Copy 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks       1984064.9 KBps  (30.0 s, 2 samples)
Pipe Throughput                             1319929.8 lps   (10.0 s, 7 samples)
Pipe-based Context Switching                 360072.6 lps   (10.0 s, 7 samples)
Process Creation                              16277.5 lps   (30.0 s, 2 samples)
Shell Scripts (1 concurrent)                  12781.1 lpm   (60.0 s, 2 samples)
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent)                   1508.8 lpm   (60.0 s, 2 samples)
System Call Overhead                         631564.2 lps   (10.0 s, 7 samples)

System Benchmarks Index Values               BASELINE       RESULT    INDEX
Dhrystone 2 using register variables         116700.0   88943050.5   7621.5
Double-Precision Whetstone                       55.0      13664.3   2484.4
Execl Throughput                                 43.0       6721.8   1563.2
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks          3960.0     729162.4   1841.3
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks            1655.0     177453.7   1072.2
File Copy 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks          5800.0    1984064.9   3420.8
Pipe Throughput                               12440.0    1319929.8   1061.0
Pipe-based Context Switching                   4000.0     360072.6    900.2
Process Creation                                126.0      16277.5   1291.9
Shell Scripts (1 concurrent)                     42.4      12781.1   3014.4
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent)                      6.0       1508.8   2514.7
System Call Overhead                          15000.0     631564.2    421.0
                                                                   ========
System Benchmarks Index Score                                        1743.2

======= Script description and score comparison completed! ======= 

Looking Glass

Johannesburg is an ideal data center location for cloud server hosting because it offers a range of beneficial features for cloud computing. It has excellent connectivity with the rest of Africa through physical infrastructure and a reliable internet connection, making it an ideal location for cloud hosting.

Test IPv4: 139.84.226.78

Global Node Test

 ## CDN Speedtest

 CacheFly : 182.48 MiB/s | 1459.85 Mbps  | ping   0.340ms
 Gdrive   :   1.66 KiB/s |    0.01 Mbps  | ping   0.891ms


 ## North America Speedtest

 Softlayer, Washington, USA : 159.66 KiB/s |    1.25 Mbps  | ping 211.963ms
 SoftLayer, San Jose, USA   :       0 B/s |      N/A       | ping error!
 SoftLayer, Dallas, USA     :       0 B/s |      N/A       | ping error!
 Vultr, New Jersey, USA     : 198.93 KiB/s |    1.55 Mbps  | ping 239.826ms
 Vultr, Seattle, USA        :   4.36 MiB/s |   34.89 Mbps  | ping 322.399ms
 Vultr, Dallas, USA         :  11.52 MiB/s |   92.16 Mbps  | ping 274.807ms
 Vultr, Los Angeles, USA    :   4.72 MiB/s |   37.73 Mbps  | ping 299.863ms
 Ramnode, New York, USA     :   5.19 MiB/s |   41.54 Mbps  | ping 244.391ms
 Ramnode, Atlanta, USA      :   8.76 MiB/s |   70.06 Mbps  | ping 262.258ms


 ## Europe Speedtest

 Vultr, London, UK            :  34.21 MiB/s |  273.69 Mbps  | ping 158.631ms
 LeaseWeb, Frankfurt, Germany :   8.95 KiB/s |    0.07 Mbps  | ping 172.817ms
 Hetzner, Germany             :     122 B/s |      N/A       | ping 169.672ms
 Ramnode, Alblasserdam, NL    :   7.43 MiB/s |   59.44 Mbps  | ping 171.986ms
 Vultr, Amsterdam, NL         :  31.94 MiB/s |  255.51 Mbps  | ping 172.689ms
 EDIS, Stockholm, Sweden      :     283 B/s |      N/A       | ping 187.596ms
 OVH, Roubaix, France         :     229 B/s |      N/A       | ping 168.221ms
 Online, France               :  26.71 MiB/s |  213.65 Mbps  | ping 175.167ms
 Prometeus, Milan, Italy      :      48 B/s |      N/A       | ping 180.476ms


 ## Exotic Speedtest

 Sydney, Australia     :  26.21 MiB/s |  209.64 Mbps  | ping 207.143ms
 Lagoon, New Caledonia :     117 B/s |      N/A       | ping 277.784ms
 Hosteasy, Moldova     :   1.71 MiB/s |   13.68 Mbps  | ping 205.751ms
 Prima, Argentina      :  13.13 KiB/s |    0.10 Mbps  | ping error!


 ## Asia Speedtest

 SoftLayer, Singapore : 200.46 KiB/s |    1.57 Mbps  | ping 217.912ms
 Linode, Tokyo, Japan : 886.38 KiB/s |    6.92 Mbps  | ping 273.282ms
 Linode, Singapore    :   2.38 MiB/s |   19.03 Mbps  | ping 270.716ms
 Vultr, Tokyo, Japan  :  18.00 MiB/s |  144.00 Mbps  | ping 209.256ms


 Benchmark finished in 161 seconds

Global Latency Test

Query: ping 139.84.239.146, interval: 5s, dense mode: no

Probing 139.84.239.146 – ARIN /19 AS20473 CHOOPA – South Africa, Western Cape, Durbanville

Media Unlock Test

 ** Test Starts At: Mon May  6 00:16:19 UTC 2024

 ** Checking Results Under IPv4 
--------------------------------
 ** Your Network Provider: Vultr (139.84.*.*) 

============[ Multination ]============
 Dazn:                                  Yes (Region: ZA)
 HotStar:                               No
 Disney+:                               No
 Netflix:                               No
 YouTube Premium:                       Yes (Region: ZA)
 Amazon Prime Video:                    Yes (Region: ZA)
 TVBAnywhere+:                          Yes
 iQyi Oversea Region:                   INTL
 Viu.com:                               Yes (Region: ZA)
 YouTube CDN:                           Johannesburg 
 Netflix Preferred CDN:                 Failed
 Spotify Registration:                  No
 Steam Currency:                        ZAR
 ChatGPT:                               Only Available with Web Browser
 Bing Region:                           ZA
 Instagram Licensed Audio:              Failed
=======================================


 ** Checking Results Under IPv6 
--------------------------------
 ** Your Network Provider: Vultr (2a05:f480:3000:*:*) 

============[ Multination ]============
 Dazn:                                  Failed (Network Connection)
 HotStar:                               No
 Disney+:                               Available For [Disney+ ZA] Soon
 Netflix:                               No
 YouTube Premium:                       Yes (Region: ZA)
 Amazon Prime Video:                    Unsupported
 TVBAnywhere+:                          Failed (Network Connection)
 iQyi Oversea Region:                   Failed
 Viu.com:                               Failed
 YouTube CDN:                           Johannesburg 
 Netflix Preferred CDN:                 Failed
 Spotify Registration:                  No
 Steam Currency:                        Failed (Network Connection)
 ChatGPT:                               No
 Bing Region:                           FR
 Instagram Licensed Audio:              Failed
=======================================
Testing Done! 

CloudFlare Internet Test

PageSpeed Insights

GTmetrix Performance

Admin Control Panel

The Cloud Admin Control Dashboard of 99Stack Cloud is designed with the user in mind. It offers a responsive, easy-to-navigate, customizable interface, quick access to information, and a user-friendly API. It’s a tool that truly empowers its users.

User-Friendly and Responsive

Firstly, the dashboard is fully responsive and user-friendly. Whether using a desktop, laptop, or mobile device, the control panel adapts to your screen size. This ensures an efficient and seamless experience across all devices.

Easy Navigation

Secondly, navigating through the dashboard is a breeze. You can click on items in lists to expand and view more advanced information. This feature allows you to access the information you need quickly and easily.

Customizable Interface

Thirdly, the dashboard offers customization options. You can switch between dark and bright modes based on your preferences. By default, the dashboard enables dark mode. This feature allows you to personalize your dashboard experience.

Knowledge Base Access

Moreover, the dashboard provides quick access to relevant pages in their knowledge base. This means you can easily find more information on how to get started. This feature makes the learning curve for new users much smoother.

Unified API Management

Lastly, the dashboard allows you to easily manage your public cloud resources thanks to their well-documented, flexible, and easy-to-use API. This unified API makes sense, with proper version management and no breaking changes.

Server Pricing

99Stack Cloud offers a pay-as-you-go model. This means you get enterprise-grade infrastructure for a fraction of the cost compared to Big Tech clouds. You only pay for what you use.

Official Website: https://www.99stack.com

Payments

99Stack Cloud offers a flexible and diverse range of payment methods, catering to the needs of many customers. Whether you prefer traditional methods like Paypal or modern ones like cryptocurrencies, 99Stack Cloud covers you.

Cryptocurrency Payments

Cryptocurrency payments are integral to 99Stack Cloud’s payment system. Payments made through Coinpayments are added to your account balance as soon as there are enough blockchain confirmations for the transaction to be fully completed. This process usually takes a few minutes but may take up to one hour.

Coinbase Payments

In October 2023, 99Stack Cloud introduced support for Coinbase payments. You can now make payments directly from your Coinbase account with low fees or use cryptocurrency for native transactions. Opt for this method if you encounter difficulties with Coinpayments or wish to pay from your Coinbase account. High-fee coins such as Bitcoin (on-chain) and Ethereum are cheaper when paid via Coinbase.

Paypal Payments

Moreover, PayPal is another conventional payment method supported by 99Stack Cloud. Paypal allows you to pay from your balance using a credit or debit card. Paypal also supports automated recurring payments. Due to high transaction fees and the risk of fraud, 99Stack Cloud does not currently support “native” card payments.

Pre-Paid Balance

Lastly, active subscriptions are billed by the hour from your pre-paid balance. You can top up your balance using any payment method available.

Coupon

The merchant did not provide

Customer Support

99Stack Cloud offers a robust and comprehensive customer support system. Whether through support tickets, their community forum, or their extensive knowledge base, they ensure their customers have the resources to resolve their issues.

Support Tickets

Firstly, 99Stack Cloud offers support via tickets. The Support department can assist you when you require assistance with your account or related products and services. This system ensures that your concerns are addressed with discretion, privacy, and higher privileges.

24×7 Support

Secondly, 99Stack Cloud provides 24×7 support. No matter the issue, you can reach out to their support team. However, it’s important to note that they do not offer phone support.

Community Forum

Thirdly, they have an online community forum. This platform is designed for developers to acquire knowledge and exchange best practices in cloud computing, programming, security, and privacy. It’s a great place to connect with other users and learn from their experiences.

Knowledge Base

Moreover, 99Stack Cloud has a comprehensive knowledge base. This section provides further information about 99Stack Cloud and its products and services. It also includes documentation for apps and tutorials.

Developer Tools

Lastly, their developer tools page contains all the necessary information and documentation to initiate the 99Stack Cloud API usage and retrieve information.

Conclusion

In our Basic Bench tests, the server showed excellent I/O speeds, averaging 1126.4 MB/s across our runs, which is well above the threshold for excellent performance. The Node Test revealed high upload and download speeds, although speed significantly dropped in locations like Hong Kong and Singapore, which exhibited much slower speeds and greater latency. The Geekbench 6 results were strong, with single-core scores hitting 1162 and multi-core scores at 2054, indicating good and standard performances, respectively.

The Yabs performance tests reflected superior disk operation capabilities, particularly in mixed read/write operations where speeds consistently surpassed 1 GB/s, reinforcing the server’s robust handling of data-intensive tasks. The UnixBench scores further underpinned this, with particularly high marks in script processing and data handling capabilities under various system stress scenarios.

In conclusion, the 99Stack Johannesburg server demonstrated strong and reliable performance across most metrics, particularly excelling in processing speed and data handling. While it maintained high speeds in local and some international locations, certain areas showed diminished connectivity and speed. This suggests the potential need for strategic planning in server placement or content delivery optimizations for global applications. This setup is well-suited for demanding web applications and services, ensuring efficient operations and brisk data management.

Official Website: https://www.99stack.com