| Metric | Alpha Layer (FlowVPS) | Hetzner Online | Vultr | Akamai (Linode) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Melbourne, Australia | Singapore | Melbourne, Australia | Sydney, Australia |
| ISP/ASN | Alpha Layer Pty Ltd / AS37988 | Hetzner Online GmbH / AS215859 | The Constant Company, LLC / AS20473 | Akamai Technologies, Inc. / AS63949 |
| CPU Model | AMD EPYC-Milan, 2 cores @ 2.25 GHz | AMD EPYC-Rome, 2 cores @ 2.40 GHz | Intel Xeon (Cascadelake), 1 core @ 2.99 GHz | AMD EPYC 7642, 1 core @ 2.30 GHz |
| RAM | 3.8 GB (1015.1 MB used) + 1.5 GB swap | 1.9 GB (786.2 MB used) | 954.9 MB (405.0 MB used) + 2.3 GB swap | 960.7 MB (574.9 MB used) + 1.5 GB swap |
| Disk | 29.9 GB (8.1 GB used) | 37.5 GB (6.3 GB used) | 23.4 GB (10.2 GB used) | 25.5 GB (7.5 GB used) |
| Uptime | 2 days, 3 hours, 34 min | N/A | 2 days, 23 hours, 55 min | N/A |
| Load Average | 0.00, 0.00, 0.00 | N/A | 0.00, 0.14, 0.11 | N/A |
| Virtualization | KVM | KVM | MICROSOFT | KVM |
| TCP Control | BBR | Cubic | BBR | Cubic |
| IPv4/IPv6 | ✔ Online / ❌ Offline | ✔ Online / ✔ Online | ✔ Online / ❌ Offline | ✔ Online / ✔ Online |
| Avg Download Speed (speedtest) | 4016.38 Mbps | 5963.75 Mbps | 2685.09 Mbps | 2771.99 Mbps |
| Avg Upload Speed (speedtest) | 4928.66 Mbps | 1567.17 Mbps | 6745.92 Mbps | 425.85 Mbps |
| Latency (Melbourne - Telstra) | 1.42 ms | 216.84 ms | 0.68 ms | 11.99 ms |
| Download (Melbourne - Telstra) | 5678.40 Mbps | 2807.03 Mbps | 5117.01 Mbps | 4886.42 Mbps |
| Upload (Melbourne - Telstra) | 9346.23 Mbps | 522.25 Mbps | 8948.09 Mbps | 1000.74 Mbps |
| Latency (Nearest) | 0.44 ms (Leaptel, Melbourne) | 0.68 ms (Symphony, Singapore) | 0.31 ms (GigaComm, Melbourne) | 0.35 ms (Speedtest.net, Sydney) |
| Download (Nearest) | 6972.63 Mbps | 9230.82 Mbps | 4149.65 Mbps | 6467.36 Mbps |
| Upload (Nearest) | 6764.71 Mbps | 9112.62 Mbps | 8672.50 Mbps | 991.80 Mbps |
| Failed Tests (speedtest) | Brisbane, Melbourne (1 server) | Brisbane, Melbourne (1 server) | Brisbane, Melbourne (1 server) | Brisbane, Melbourne (1 server) |
| I/O Speed (avg) | 627.04 MB/s (fio 4k) | 303.73 MB/s (fio 4k) | 1433.6 MB/s | 814.3 MB/s |
| iperf3 Avg Send (IPv4) | 814.4 Mbps | 1713.4 Mbps | 797.5 Mbps | 698.8 Mbps |
| iperf3 Avg Recv (IPv4) | 626.0 Mbps | 1480.7 Mbps | 561.0 Mbps | 680.3 Mbps |
| iperf3 Avg Send (IPv6) | N/A (IPv6 Offline) | 1057.2 Mbps | N/A (IPv6 Offline) | 663.0 Mbps |
| iperf3 Avg Recv (IPv6) | N/A (IPv6 Offline) | 1554.5 Mbps | N/A (IPv6 Offline) | 551.1 Mbps |
| Geekbench Single Core | 1532 | N/A (Test Failed) | 937 | 966 |
| Geekbench Multi Core | 2762 | N/A (Test Failed) | 691 | 792 |
| Total Data Transferred | 104.00 GB (50.70 GB DL, 53.30 GB UL) | 103.05 GB (87.70 GB DL, 15.35 GB UL) | 111.28 GB (37.60 GB DL, 73.68 GB UL) | 84.40 GB (67.60 GB DL, 16.80 GB UL) |
| Test Duration | 6 min 39 sec | 5 min 37 sec | 4 min 16 sec | 5 min 29 sec |
Melbourne Network Performance: Alpha Layer (FlowVPS) leads for Melbourne users with the highest download speed (5678.40 Mbps) and upload speed (9346.23 Mbps) to Telstra’s Melbourne server, and strong nearest-node performance (6972.63 Mbps download, 6764.71 Mbps upload, 0.44 ms latency). Vultr is highly competitive (5117.01 Mbps download, 8948.09 Mbps upload to Melbourne; 4149.65 Mbps download, 8672.50 Mbps upload nearest, 0.31 ms latency), ideal for latency-sensitive applications due to its lower latency. Akamai (Linode) provides strong download speeds (4886.42 Mbps to Melbourne, 6467.36 Mbps nearest) but is limited by lower upload speeds (1000.74 Mbps to Melbourne, 991.80 Mbps nearest) and higher latency (11.99 ms) due to its Sydney location. Hetzner, located in Singapore, is unsuitable for Melbourne users with high latency (216.84 ms) and low upload speeds (522.25 Mbps), despite strong nearest-node performance (9230.82 Mbps download, 9112.62 Mbps upload).
Disk Performance: Vultr leads in small-block I/O (1433.6 MB/s), followed by Akamai (Linode) (814.3 MB/s) and FlowVPS (627.04 MB/s, fio 4k). Hetzner lags at 303.73 MB/s. For larger block sizes, Hetzner excels (6.24 GB/s at 1m), followed by FlowVPS (4.71 GB/s), Akamai (Linode) (4.63 GB/s), and Vultr (4.13 GB/s), all suitable for file serving or backups.
CPU Performance: FlowVPS delivers the best CPU performance with Geekbench 6 scores of 1532 (single-core) and 2762 (multi-core), benefiting from its dual-core CPU. Akamai (Linode) (966 single-core, 792 multi-core) and Vultr (937 single-core, 691 multi-core) are comparable for light compute tasks. Hetzner failed Geekbench due to low memory (1.9 GB, no swap).
Is FlowVPS a Good Choice?: FlowVPS is an excellent choice for Melbourne users due to its top-tier network performance (5678.40 Mbps download, 9346.23 Mbps upload to Melbourne; 6972.63 Mbps download, 6764.71 Mbps upload nearest; 4016.38 Mbps avg download, 4928.66 Mbps avg upload) and strong disk performance (627.04 MB/s at 4k, 4.71 GB/s at 1m), ideal for high-bandwidth tasks (streaming, file transfers, content delivery) and file serving. Its dual-core CPU (1532 single-core, 2762 multi-core) excels for compute-intensive tasks (e.g., data processing). However, its small-block I/O (627.04 MB/s) trails Vultr (1433.6 MB/s) for high-IOPS workloads like databases. Improved iperf3 speeds (814.4 Mbps send, 626.0 Mbps receive) enhance global connectivity, but the lack of IPv6 may limit modern applications. With 29.9 GB disk, low load average (0.00, 0.00, 0.00), and 104.00 GB data transferred, it offers robust capacity and stability.
Recommendation: FlowVPS is the best choice for Melbourne users needing high-bandwidth or compute-intensive applications, closely followed by Vultr for high-IOPS or low-latency tasks. Akamai (Linode) suits Sydney-based or download-heavy tasks. Hetzner is not recommended for Melbourne due to its remote location, though its disk performance is exceptional.
Network Performance: Akamai (Linode) excels in download speeds (4886.42 Mbps to Melbourne, 6467.36 Mbps to Sydney), surpassing typical consumer connections (e.g., NBN 1000 at ~1000 Mbps). Its upload speeds (1000.74 Mbps to Melbourne, 991.80 Mbps to Sydney) are adequate but significantly trail FlowVPS (9346.23 Mbps to Melbourne, 6764.71 Mbps nearest; 4928.66 Mbps avg) and Vultr (8948.09 Mbps to Melbourne, 8672.50 Mbps nearest; 6745.92 Mbps avg). The 11.99 ms latency to Melbourne (0.35 ms nearest), due to its Sydney data center, is acceptable for web hosting or content delivery but less ideal for latency-sensitive tasks like gaming or VoIP, where Vultr (0.68 ms to Melbourne, 0.31 ms nearest) and FlowVPS (1.42 ms to Melbourne, 0.44 ms nearest) excel. iperf3 results (698.8 Mbps send, 680.3 Mbps receive IPv4; 663.0 Mbps send, 551.1 Mbps receive IPv6) are solid but trail FlowVPS (814.4 Mbps send, 626.0 Mbps receive) and Vultr (797.5 Mbps send, 561.0 Mbps receive). IPv6 support is a plus for modern applications.
Disk Performance: I/O speed (814.3 MB/s) is strong but trails Vultr (1433.6 MB/s) and FlowVPS (627.04 MB/s). At 1m, 4.63 GB/s is competitive but behind Hetzner (6.24 GB/s) and FlowVPS (4.71 GB/s). Suitable for file serving or backups but less ideal for high-IOPS tasks compared to Vultr.
CPU Performance: Geekbench scores (966 single-core, 792 multi-core) confirm the AMD EPYC 7642 (2.30 GHz) is adequate for light compute tasks (e.g., web servers), comparable to Vultr (937 single-core, 691 multi-core). The 1.5 GB swap supports performance, but FlowVPS’s dual-core CPU (1532 single-core, 2762 multi-core) is stronger for multi-threaded workloads.
Verdict: Akamai (Linode) is good enough for Melbourne users needing general-purpose VPS hosting, such as web servers, development environments, or download-heavy applications, especially for Sydney-focused or regional workloads. It’s less competitive for high-bandwidth, low-latency, or high-IOPS tasks, where FlowVPS and Vultr outperform due to their Melbourne location and superior network and disk performance.
Recommendation: Choose Akamai (Linode) for strong download speeds, IPv6 support, and solid I/O performance in Sydney or regional applications. For Melbourne users prioritizing high bandwidth, compute power, or low latency, FlowVPS is the best choice, with Vultr as a strong alternative for high-IOPS or latency-sensitive workloads.