docker-diskmark

A fio-based disk benchmark docker container, similar to what CrystalDiskMark does.

Basic Usage

docker pull e7db/diskmark
docker run -it --rm e7db/diskmark

Profiles

The container contains two different test profiles:

• Default profile:
  • Sequential 1M Q8T1
  • Sequential 1M Q1T1
  • Random 4K Q32T1
  • Random 4K Q1T1
• NVMe profile:
  • Sequential 1M Q8T1
  • Sequential 128K Q32T1
  • Random 4K Q32T16
  • Random 4K Q1T1

Advanced usage

Find below a table listing all the different parameters you can use with the container:

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
PROFILE	Environment	auto	The profile to apply: - auto to try and autoselect the best one based on the used drive detection, - default, best suited for hard disk drives, - nvme, best suited for NVMe SSD drives.
JOB	Environment		A custom job to use: details below in the Custom job section. This parameter overrides the PROFILE parameter.
IO	Environment	direct	The drive access mode: - direct for synchronous I/O, - buffered for asynchronous I/O.
DATA	Environment	random	The test data: - random to use random data, - 0x00 to fill with 0 (zero) values.
SIZE	Environment	1G	The size of the test file (e.g., 500M, 1G, 10G).
WARMUP	Environment	0	When set to 1, use a warmup phase, thus preparing the test file with dd, using either random data or zero values as set by DATA.
WARMUP_SIZE	Environment		Warmup block size. Defaults depend on the profile: - 8M for the default profile - 64M for the NVMe profile.
RUNTIME	Environment	5s	The duration for each job (e.g., 1s, 5s, 2m). Used alone: time-based benchmark. Used with LOOPS: caps each loop to this duration.
LOOPS	Environment		The number of test loops to run. Used alone: runs exactly N loops with no time limit. Used with RUNTIME: runs N loops, each capped to RUNTIME.
DRY_RUN	Environment	0	When set to 1, validates configuration without running the benchmark.
/disk	Volume		The target path to benchmark.

By default, a 1 GB test file is used, with a 5 seconds duration for each test, reading and writing random bytes on the disk where Docker is installed.

With parameters

For example, you can use a 4 GB file, looping each test twice, but after a warmup phase, and writting only zeros instead of random data.
You can achieve this using the following command:

docker run -it --rm -e SIZE=4G -e WARMUP=1 -e LOOPS=2 -e DATA=0x00 e7db/diskmark

You can also combine LOOPS and RUNTIME for hybrid mode — run a fixed number of loops, but cap each loop's duration:

docker run -it --rm -e SIZE=1G -e LOOPS=3 -e RUNTIME=10s e7db/diskmark

Warmup block size is tunable with WARMUP_SIZE (e.g. 8M, 64M, 128M). By default it adapts to the selected profile: 8M for the default profile (HDD-friendly) and 64M for the NVMe profile. You can override it explicitly if needed:

docker run -it --rm -e WARMUP=1 -e WARMUP_SIZE=128M e7db/diskmark

Force profile

A detection of your disk is tried, so the benchmark uses the appropriate profile, default or nvme.
In the event that the detection fails, yielding "Unknown", or returns the wrong profile, you can force the use of either of the profiles:

docker run -it --rm -e PROFILE=nvme e7db/diskmark

Custom job

You can run a custom single job using the JOB parameter.
The job expression must follow a specific format, such as follows: RND4KQ32T16.
It is composed of 4 parts:

• RND or SEQ, for random or sequential access
• xxK or xxM, where xx is the block size, and K or M is the unit (Kilobytes or Megabytes)
• Qyy, where yy is the queue depth
• Tzz, where zz is the number of threads

In the previous example RND4KQ32T16, the job uses random accesses, with a block size of 4K, a queue depth of 32, and 16 threads.

Construct your custom chain, then run the benchmark using the following command:

docker run -it --rm -e JOB=RND4KQ32T16 e7db/diskmark

Specific disk

By default, the benchmark runs on the disk where Docker is installed, using a Docker volume mounted on the /disk path inside the container.
To run the benchmark on a different disk, use a path belonging to that disk, and mount it as the /disk volume:

docker run -it --rm -v /path/to/specific/disk:/disk e7db/diskmark