Hdparm is a free tool for linux to measure sequential disk performance which is primarily used to tune and optimize disk parameters or to set and view hard disk drive hardware parameters. It is working on SATA/ATA/IDE/SAS disk. The command below has been tested on CentOS 6.5 and running on VMware ESXi 4.1 virtual machine.
Install the hdparm :
[root@server ~]# yum install hdparm -y Loaded plugins: fastestmirror Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile * Webmin: download.webmin.com * base: mirror.upsi.edu.my * epel: ftp.cuhk.edu.hk * extras: mirror.upsi.edu.my * updates: centos.mirror.secureax.com Setting up Install Process Resolving Dependencies --> Running transaction check ---> Package hdparm.x86_64 0:9.43-4.el6 will be installed --> Finished Dependency Resolution Dependencies Resolved ==================================================================================================== Package Arch Version Repository Size ==================================================================================================== Installing: hdparm x86_64 9.43-4.el6 base 81 k Transaction Summary ==================================================================================================== Install 1 Package(s) Total download size: 81 k Installed size: 150 k Downloading Packages: hdparm-9.43-4.el6.x86_64.rpm | 81 kB 00:00 Running rpm_check_debug Running Transaction Test Transaction Test Succeeded Running Transaction Installing : hdparm-9.43-4.el6.x86_64 1/1 Verifying : hdparm-9.43-4.el6.x86_64 1/1 Installed: hdparm.x86_64 0:9.43-4.el6 Complete!
To display the configuration of the hard disk :
[root@server ~]# hdparm /dev/sda /dev/sda: SG_IO: bad/missing sense data, sb[]: 70 00 05 00 00 00 00 0a 00 00 00 00 20 00 00 c0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 multcount = 0 (off) readonly = 0 (off) readahead = 256 (on) geometry = 2871/255/63, sectors = 46137344, start = 0
To check the speed of the hard disk :
[root@server ~]# hdparm -Tt /dev/sda /dev/sda: Timing cached reads: 2024 MB in 2.00 seconds = 1012.10 MB/sec Timing buffered disk reads: 534 MB in 3.00 seconds = 177.94 MB/sec
To measure how many MB/s your hard disk (SATA/IDE) can read :
[root@server ~]# hdparm -t --direct /dev/sda /dev/sda: Timing O_DIRECT disk reads: 1122 MB in 3.00 seconds = 373.67 MB/sec