Server Benchmarks: Comparing DigitalOcean and Scaleway

Scaleway's servers are half the price of DigitalOcean's... but is it worth it? Let's find out.

DigitalOcean's 2GB RAM instances ($5/month):
$ cryptsetup benchmark 
# Tests are approximate using memory only (no storage IO).
PBKDF2-sha1       824352 iterations per second for 256-bit key  
PBKDF2-sha256     951520 iterations per second for 256-bit key  
PBKDF2-sha512     776722 iterations per second for 256-bit key  
PBKDF2-ripemd160  656180 iterations per second for 256-bit key  
PBKDF2-whirlpool  360583 iterations per second for 256-bit key  
argon2i       4 iterations, 282603 memory, 4 parallel threads (CPUs) for 256-bit key (requested 2000 ms time)  
argon2id      4 iterations, 301403 memory, 4 parallel threads (CPUs) for 256-bit key (requested 2000 ms time)  
#     Algorithm | Key |  Encryption |  Decryption
        aes-cbc   128b   459.8 MiB/s  1740.9 MiB/s
    serpent-cbc   128b    54.0 MiB/s   375.2 MiB/s
    twofish-cbc   128b   124.9 MiB/s   218.7 MiB/s
        aes-cbc   256b   339.3 MiB/s  1354.8 MiB/s
    serpent-cbc   256b    56.2 MiB/s   356.2 MiB/s
    twofish-cbc   256b   125.2 MiB/s   219.9 MiB/s
        aes-xts   256b  1135.4 MiB/s  1045.2 MiB/s
    serpent-xts   256b   343.4 MiB/s   348.1 MiB/s
    twofish-xts   256b   202.6 MiB/s   203.1 MiB/s
        aes-xts   512b   938.3 MiB/s   963.9 MiB/s
    serpent-xts   512b   362.2 MiB/s   350.8 MiB/s
    twofish-xts   512b   216.4 MiB/s   211.7 MiB/s

Scaleway's 2GB RAM instances (~$2.20/month):
$ cryptsetup benchmark 
# Tests are approximate using memory only (no storage IO).
PBKDF2-sha1       384939 iterations per second for 256-bit key  
PBKDF2-sha256     477493 iterations per second for 256-bit key  
PBKDF2-sha512     408960 iterations per second for 256-bit key  
PBKDF2-ripemd160  314698 iterations per second for 256-bit key  
PBKDF2-whirlpool  225986 iterations per second for 256-bit key  
argon2i       4 iterations, 345811 memory, 4 parallel threads (CPUs) for 256-bit key (requested 2000 ms time)  
argon2id      4 iterations, 347280 memory, 4 parallel threads (CPUs) for 256-bit key (requested 2000 ms time)  
#     Algorithm | Key |  Encryption |  Decryption
        aes-cbc   128b   415.0 MiB/s   808.5 MiB/s
    serpent-cbc   128b    43.9 MiB/s   142.8 MiB/s
    twofish-cbc   128b    86.8 MiB/s   112.7 MiB/s
        aes-cbc   256b   332.7 MiB/s   688.1 MiB/s
    serpent-cbc   256b    49.7 MiB/s   141.7 MiB/s
    twofish-cbc   256b    95.2 MiB/s   112.7 MiB/s
        aes-xts   256b   603.6 MiB/s   613.6 MiB/s
    serpent-xts   256b   133.4 MiB/s   135.8 MiB/s
    twofish-xts   256b   108.1 MiB/s   108.0 MiB/s
        aes-xts   512b   536.4 MiB/s   531.7 MiB/s
    serpent-xts   512b   134.3 MiB/s   134.8 MiB/s
    twofish-xts   512b   108.2 MiB/s   107.8 MiB/s