Linode Linode (8 GB) vs. UpCloud Balanced (2 GB)
My friend, I'm so glad you're here! Today I've spun up brand new instance from Linode and UpCloud to run some benchmarks on. All instances were running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 and were created in or around the New York / New Jersey area. Enough talk. Here's the data.
Overview
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Last Benchmarked | Wed, 13 May 2026 12:00:52 GMT | Wed, 13 May 2026 07:00:52 GMT |
| Linux Distro | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 |
| Kernel Version | 6.8.0-111-generic | 6.8.0-111-generic |
| MySQL Version | 8.0.45-0ubuntu0.24.04.1 | 8.0.45-0ubuntu0.24.04.1 |
| Redis Version | 7.0.15 | 7.0.15 |
| Location | Newark, NJ | New York, NY |
| Monthly Price | $48.00 | €13.00 |
| RAM (GB) | 8 | 2 |
| CPU Cores | 4 | 1 |
| Storage (TB) | 160 | 50 |
| Storage Type | SSD | SSD |
| Transfer (TB) | 5 | 2 |
CPU
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | AuthenticAMD | AuthenticAMD |
| Model Name | AMD EPYC 7642 48-Core Processor | AMD EPYC 9575F 64-Core Processor |
| Clock Speed (MHz) | 2,300.00 | 3,295.48 |
| CPU Cache Size (KB) | 512.00 | 512.00 |
| BogoMips | 4,600.00 | 6,590.95 |
| Events per Second | 1,617.18 | 5,025.21 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.6 | 0.18 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.62 | 0.2 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 4.03 | 5.35 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.63 | 0.22 |
Memory
Memory Read
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Operations per second | 5,413,239.64 | 5,932,400.60 |
| Mebibytes per second | 5,286.37 | 5,793.36 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 0.27 | 2.22 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
Memory Write
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Operations per second | 5,401,772.35 | 6,706,599.41 |
| Mebibytes per second | 5,275.17 | 6,549.41 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 3.16 | 1.56 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
File I/O
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Reads per Second | 5,352.26 | 3,214.64 |
| Writes per Second | 3,568.24 | 2,143.03 |
| Fsyncs per Second | 11,427.82 | 6,864.71 |
| Read Mebibytes per Second | 83.63 | 50.23 |
| Written Mebibytes per Second | 55.75 | 33.48 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.05 | 0.08 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 17.35 | 20.14 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.17 | 0.31 |
Mutex
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 348.05 | 1,349.13 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 396.31 | 1,353.60 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 431.69 | 1,361.99 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 434.83 | 1,352.03 |
MySQL
MySQL Read-only
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 6,622.00 | 19,090.00 |
| Queries per second | 66,220.00 | 190,900.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1.26 | 0.31 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.51 | 0.52 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 5.55 | 5.34 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.79 | 0.64 |
MySQL Write-only
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 6,585.00 | 3,974.00 |
| Queries per second | 65,850.00 | 39,740.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1.08 | 0.87 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.52 | 2.51 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 13.03 | 38.67 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.89 | 5 |
MySQL Read/Write
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 3,140.00 | 2,830.00 |
| Queries per second | 31,400.00 | 28,300.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 2.42 | 1.29 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 3.18 | 3.53 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 20.95 | 56.72 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 3.62 | 6.32 |
MySQL INSERT
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 8,943.00 | 4,647.00 |
| Queries per second | 89,430.00 | 46,470.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.7 | 0.61 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.12 | 2.15 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 12.42 | 28.58 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.34 | 4.41 |
MySQL Bulk INSERT
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 1,608,842.00 | 2,249,592.00 |
| Queries per second | 16,088,420.00 | 22,495,920.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.01 | 0 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 398.1 | 207.34 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
MySQL SELECT
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 154,001.00 | 645,161.00 |
| Queries per second | 1,540,010.00 | 6,451,610.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.04 | 0.01 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.06 | 0.02 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 8.37 | 2.26 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.08 | 0.02 |
MySQL SELECT (Random Points)
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 8,666.00 | 8,546.00 |
| Queries per second | 86,660.00 | 85,460.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.32 | 0.13 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.15 | 1.17 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 4.6 | 172.57 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.44 | 1.58 |
MySQL SELECT (Random Ranges)
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 7,418.00 | 11,562.00 |
| Queries per second | 74,180.00 | 115,620.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.49 | 0.22 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.35 | 0.86 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 4.59 | 4.07 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.73 | 1.27 |
MySQL UPDATE (Indexed)
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 8,731.00 | 4,711.00 |
| Queries per second | 87,310.00 | 47,110.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.74 | 0.73 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.14 | 2.12 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 12.55 | 30.41 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.39 | 3.96 |
MySQL UPDATE (Non-Indexed)
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 9,183.00 | 5,393.00 |
| Queries per second | 91,830.00 | 53,930.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.71 | 0.48 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.09 | 1.85 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 19.59 | 39 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.25 | 3.43 |
MySQL DELETE
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 90,891.00 | 101,195.00 |
| Queries per second | 908,910.00 | 1,011,950.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.04 | 0.01 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.11 | 0.1 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 14.78 | 39.3 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.12 | 0.17 |
Redis
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| PING_INLINE per Second | 59,171.59 | 130,208.34 |
| PING_MBULK per Second | 58,823.53 | 130,208.34 |
| SET per Second | 58,173.36 | 130,890.05 |
| GET per Second | 59,066.75 | 129,198.97 |
| INCR per Second | 59,453.03 | 128,534.70 |
| LPUSH per Second | 60,569.35 | 128,040.97 |
| RPUSH per Second | 59,880.24 | 126,582.27 |
| LPOP per Second | 57,537.40 | 124,688.28 |
| RPOP per Second | 57,636.89 | 127,226.46 |
| SADD per Second | 56,625.14 | 129,198.97 |
| HSET per Second | 58,377.11 | 133,511.34 |
| SPOP per Second | 56,850.48 | 139,275.77 |
| ZADD per Second | 58,241.12 | 130,039.02 |
| ZPOPMIN per Second | 57,339.45 | 129,701.68 |
| LRANGE_100 (first 100 elements) per Second | 46,838.41 | 55,524.71 |
| LRANGE_300 (first 300 elements) per Second | 27,517.89 | 28,785.26 |
| LRANGE_500 (first 500 elements) per Second | 20,226.54 | 18,942.98 |
| LRANGE_600 (first 600 elements) per Second | 17,812.61 | 17,038.68 |
| MSET (10 keys) per Second | 59,417.71 | 108,225.10 |
Redis Average Latency (ms)
| Linode – (8 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| PING_INLINE | 0.44 | 0.25 |
| PING_MBULK | 0.44 | 0.25 |
| SET | 0.45 | 0.26 |
| GET | 0.44 | 0.26 |
| INCR | 0.44 | 0.26 |
| LPUSH | 0.43 | 0.26 |
| RPUSH | 0.43 | 0.27 |
| LPOP | 0.45 | 0.27 |
| RPOP | 0.45 | 0.27 |
| SADD | 0.46 | 0.26 |
| HSET | 0.44 | 0.26 |
| SPOP | 0.45 | 0.24 |
| ZADD | 0.44 | 0.26 |
| ZPOPMIN | 0.45 | 0.26 |
| LRANGE_100 (first 100 elements) | 0.56 | 0.66 |
| LRANGE_300 (first 300 elements) | 0.94 | 1.27 |
| LRANGE_500 (first 500 elements) | 1.30 | 1.95 |
| LRANGE_600 (first 600 elements) | 1.46 | 2.16 |
| MSET (10 keys) | 0.44 | 0.34 |
Conclusion
From the friendly robots:
In benchmarking performance, the Linode (8 GB) instance provides superior throughput and lower latency in Redis operations compared to the UpCloud Balanced (2 GB) instance, especially in CPU-intensive and memory-heavy workloads, as evidenced by the higher RPS and lower average latency across Redis benchmarks. However, the UpCloud instance exhibits higher performance in bulk operations and has a more powerful CPU with better bogomips and clock speed, resulting in slightly better file I/O and memory operations. For developers seeking higher CPU performance and memory throughput, the UpCloud instance is more suitable, whereas for applications prioritizing low-latency Redis operations and more powerful CPUs, the Linode instance stands out. Each instance offers unique strengths making them ideal for different workloads based on specific CPU, memory, and I/O needs.
From the friendly human:
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