The Notes

This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong.
====== The performance of SHA256 and SHA512 algorithms as implemented by OpenSSL ======
SHA256 and SHA512 are both cryptographic hash algorithms. They are used for detecting whether data had been modified. The digest size SHA256 and SHA512 are 256 bit and 512 bit respectively. SHA512 is more resistant to attacks compared to SHA256. However, interestingly enough, under x86-64 architecture, it is faster to compute SHA512 compared to SHA256. The reason is detailed in [[https://eprint.iacr.org/2010/548.pdf|this paper]].

Below are the performance metrics from some of the machines I have. If you are not on x86-64, it is faster to use SHA256. 

<code>
$ uname -a; grep -m 1 'model name' /proc/cpuinfo; openssl speed -evp sha256 sha512
Linux smithsonian 4.19.0-10-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.19.132-1 (2020-07-24) x86_64 GNU/Linux
model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4900MQ CPU @ 2.80GHz
Doing sha512 for 3s on 16 size blocks: 9287059 sha512's in 3.00s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 64 size blocks: 9403957 sha512's in 3.00s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 256 size blocks: 4061733 sha512's in 3.00s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 1024 size blocks: 1572993 sha512's in 3.00s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 8192 size blocks: 232897 sha512's in 3.00s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 16384 size blocks: 117928 sha512's in 3.00s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 16 size blocks: 10277529 sha256's in 3.00s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 64 size blocks: 6593538 sha256's in 3.00s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 256 size blocks: 3487247 sha256's in 3.00s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 1024 size blocks: 1177638 sha256's in 3.00s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 8192 size blocks: 164907 sha256's in 3.00s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 16384 size blocks: 79201 sha256's in 3.00s
OpenSSL 1.1.1d  10 Sep 2019
built on: Mon Apr 20 20:23:01 2020 UTC
options:bn(64,64) rc4(16x,int) des(int) aes(partial) blowfish(ptr)
compiler: gcc -fPIC -pthread -m64 -Wa,--noexecstack -Wall -Wa,--noexecstack -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/openssl-8Ocme2/openssl-1.1.1d=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -DOPENSSL_USE_NODELETE -DL_ENDIAN -DOPENSSL_PIC -DOPENSSL_CPUID_OBJ -DOPENSSL_IA32_SSE2 -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_MONT -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_MONT5 -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_GF2m -DSHA1_ASM -DSHA256_ASM -DSHA512_ASM -DKECCAK1600_ASM -DRC4_ASM -DMD5_ASM -DAESNI_ASM -DVPAES_ASM -DGHASH_ASM -DECP_NISTZ256_ASM -DX25519_ASM -DPOLY1305_ASM -DNDEBUG -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2
The 'numbers' are in 1000s of bytes per second processed.
type             16 bytes     64 bytes    256 bytes   1024 bytes   8192 bytes  16384 bytes
sha256           54813.49k   140662.14k   297578.41k   401967.10k   450306.05k   432543.06k
sha512           49530.98k   200617.75k   346601.22k   536914.94k   635964.07k   644044.12k
</code>

<code>
$ uname -a; grep -m 1 'model name' /proc/cpuinfo; openssl speed -evp sha256 sha512
Linux gabriel 4.19.0-10-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.19.132-1 (2020-07-24) x86_64 GNU/Linux
model name      : Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N2800   @ 1.86GHz
Doing sha512 for 3s on 16 size blocks: 1802470 sha512's in 2.93s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 64 size blocks: 1999076 sha512's in 2.96s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 256 size blocks: 813357 sha512's in 2.97s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 1024 size blocks: 294403 sha512's in 2.98s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 8192 size blocks: 41516 sha512's in 2.97s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 16384 size blocks: 21836 sha512's in 2.99s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 16 size blocks: 1525305 sha256's in 2.96s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 64 size blocks: 1117491 sha256's in 2.99s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 256 size blocks: 608597 sha256's in 2.94s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 1024 size blocks: 222215 sha256's in 2.90s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 8192 size blocks: 32397 sha256's in 2.98s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 16384 size blocks: 16463 sha256's in 2.98s
OpenSSL 1.1.1d  10 Sep 2019
built on: Mon Apr 20 20:23:01 2020 UTC
options:bn(64,64) rc4(16x,int) des(int) aes(partial) blowfish(ptr)
compiler: gcc -fPIC -pthread -m64 -Wa,--noexecstack -Wall -Wa,--noexecstack -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/openssl-8Ocme2/openssl-1.1.1d=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -DOPENSSL_USE_NODELETE -DL_ENDIAN -DOPENSSL_PIC -DOPENSSL_CPUID_OBJ -DOPENSSL_IA32_SSE2 -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_MONT -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_MONT5 -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_GF2m -DSHA1_ASM -DSHA256_ASM -DSHA512_ASM -DKECCAK1600_ASM -DRC4_ASM -DMD5_ASM -DAESNI_ASM -DVPAES_ASM -DGHASH_ASM -DECP_NISTZ256_ASM -DX25519_ASM -DPOLY1305_ASM -DNDEBUG -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2
The 'numbers' are in 1000s of bytes per second processed.
type             16 bytes     64 bytes    256 bytes   1024 bytes   8192 bytes  16384 bytes
sha256            8244.89k    23919.54k    52993.48k    78464.88k    89059.14k    90513.35k
sha512            9842.84k    43223.26k    70107.54k   101163.98k   114511.47k   119652.52k
</code>

<code>
$ uname -a; grep -m 1 'model name' /proc/cpuinfo; openssl speed -evp sha256 sha512
Linux hawkeye 5.4.51+ #1333 Mon Aug 10 16:38:02 BST 2020 armv6l GNU/Linux
model name      : ARMv6-compatible processor rev 7 (v6l)
Doing sha512 for 3s on 16 size blocks: 122782 sha512's in 1.28s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 64 size blocks: 141168 sha512's in 1.47s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 256 size blocks: 50787 sha512's in 1.47s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 1024 size blocks: 16403 sha512's in 1.41s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 8192 size blocks: 2238 sha512's in 1.42s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 16384 size blocks: 1148 sha512's in 1.43s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 16 size blocks: 175136 sha256's in 1.46s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 64 size blocks: 137710 sha256's in 1.41s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 256 size blocks: 88038 sha256's in 1.48s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 1024 size blocks: 28676 sha256's in 1.24s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 8192 size blocks: 5448 sha256's in 1.60s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 16384 size blocks: 2430 sha256's in 1.47s
OpenSSL 1.1.1d  10 Sep 2019
built on: Mon Apr 27 09:55:40 2020 UTC
options:bn(64,32) rc4(char) des(long) aes(partial) blowfish(ptr)
compiler: gcc -fPIC -pthread -Wa,--noexecstack -Wall -D__ARM_MAX_ARCH__=7 -Wa,--noexecstack -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/home/pi/work/new=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -DOPENSSL_USE_NODELETE -DOPENSSL_PIC -DOPENSSL_CPUID_OBJ -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_MONT -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_GF2m -DSHA1_ASM -DSHA256_ASM -DSHA512_ASM -DKECCAK1600_ASM -DAES_ASM -DBSAES_ASM -DGHASH_ASM -DECP_NISTZ256_ASM -DPOLY1305_ASM -DNDEBUG -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2
The 'numbers' are in 1000s of bytes per second processed.
type             16 bytes     64 bytes    256 bytes   1024 bytes   8192 bytes  16384 bytes
sha256            1919.30k     6250.67k    15228.19k    23680.83k    27893.76k    27083.76k
sha512            1534.78k     6146.09k     8844.54k    11912.53k    12911.05k    13153.03k
</code>

<code>
# uname -a; grep -m 1 'model' /proc/cpuinfo; openssl speed -evp sha256 sha512
Linux windranger 4.9.120 #0 Thu Aug 16 07:51:15 2018 mips GNU/Linux
cpu model               : MIPS 74Kc V4.12
Doing sha512 for 3s on 16 size blocks: 115217 sha512's in 2.91s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 64 size blocks: 114340 sha512's in 2.92s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 256 size blocks: 39213 sha512's in 2.85s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 1024 size blocks: 13437 sha512's in 2.92s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 8192 size blocks: 1866 sha512's in 2.92s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 16 size blocks: 343958 sha256's in 2.93s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 64 size blocks: 236151 sha256's in 2.92s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 256 size blocks: 120511 sha256's in 2.89s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 1024 size blocks: 40789 sha256's in 2.88s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 8192 size blocks: 5696 sha256's in 2.95s
OpenSSL 1.0.2p  14 Aug 2018
built on: reproducible build, date unspecified
options:bn(64,32) rc4(ptr,char) des(idx,cisc,2,long) aes(partial) blowfish(ptr)
compiler: mips-openwrt-linux-musl-gcc -I. -I.. -I../include  -fPIC -DOPENSSL_PIC -DZLIB_SHARED -DZLIB -DOPENSSL_THREADS -D_REENTRANT -DDSO_DLFCN -DHAVE_DLFCN_H -I/build/openwrt-18.06/slaves/phase2/mips_24kc/build/sdk/staging_dir/target-mips_24kc_musl/usr/include -I/build/openwrt-18.06/slaves/phase2/mips_24kc/build/sdk/staging_dir/target-mips_24kc_musl/include -I/build/openwrt-18.06/slaves/phase2/mips_24kc/build/sdk/staging_dir/toolchain-mips_24kc_gcc-7.3.0_musl/usr/include -I/build/openwrt-18.06/slaves/phase2/mips_24kc/build/sdk/staging_dir/toolchain-mips_24kc_gcc-7.3.0_musl/include/fortify -I/build/openwrt-18.06/slaves/phase2/mips_24kc/build/sdk/staging_dir/toolchain-mips_24kc_gcc-7.3.0_musl/include -znow -zrelro -DOPENSSL_SMALL_FOOTPRINT -DHAVE_CRYPTODEV -DUSE_CRYPTODEV_DIGESTS -DOPENSSL_NO_ERR -DTERMIOS -Os -pipe -mno-branch-likely -mips32r2 -mtune=24kc -fno-caller-saves -fno-plt -fhonour-copts -Wno-error=unused-but-set-variable -Wno-error=unused-result -msoft-float -iremap/build/openwrt-18.06/slaves/phase2/mips_24kc/build/sdk/build_dir/target-mips_24kc_musl/openssl-1.0.2p:openssl-1.0.2p -Wformat -Werror=format-security -fstack-protector -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=1 -Wl,-z,now -Wl,-z,relro -fpic -I/build/openwrt-18.06/slaves/phase2/mips_24kc/build/sdk/feeds/base/package/libs/openssl/include -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -fomit-frame-pointer -Wall -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_MONT -DSHA1_ASM -DSHA256_ASM -DAES_ASM
The 'numbers' are in 1000s of bytes per second processed.
type             16 bytes     64 bytes    256 bytes   1024 bytes   8192 bytes
sha256            1878.27k     5175.91k    10675.02k    14502.76k    15817.50k
sha512             633.50k     2506.08k     3522.29k     4712.15k     5235.02k
</code>
<code>
# uname -a; grep -m 1 'model' /proc/cpuinfo; openssl speed -evp sha256 sha512
Linux Aether 4.14.195 #0 SMP Sun Sep 6 16:19:39 2020 mips GNU/Linux
cpu model               : MIPS 34Kc V5.6
Doing sha512 for 3s on 16 size blocks: 88913 sha512's in 2.96s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 64 size blocks: 90304 sha512's in 3.00s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 256 size blocks: 31356 sha512's in 2.99s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 1024 size blocks: 10574 sha512's in 2.99s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 8192 size blocks: 1471 sha512's in 2.99s
Doing sha512 for 3s on 16384 size blocks: 740 sha512's in 3.00s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 16 size blocks: 152011 sha256's in 3.00s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 64 size blocks: 128152 sha256's in 2.99s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 256 size blocks: 76662 sha256's in 3.00s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 1024 size blocks: 29636 sha256's in 2.99s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 8192 size blocks: 4303 sha256's in 2.89s
Doing sha256 for 3s on 16384 size blocks: 2125 sha256's in 2.81s
OpenSSL 1.1.1g  21 Apr 2020
built on: Sat Sep 19 17:48:27 2020 UTC
options:bn(64,32) rc4(char) des(long) aes(partial) blowfish(ptr)
compiler: mips-openwrt-linux-musl-gcc -fPIC -pthread -mabi=32 -Wa,--noexecstack -Wall -O3 -Os -pipe -mno-branch-likely -mips32r2 -mtune=24kc -fno-caller-saves -fno-plt -fhonour-copts -Wno-error=unused-but-set-variable -Wno-error=unused-result -msoft-float -Wformat -Werror=format-security -fstack-protector -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=1 -Wl,-z,now -Wl,-z,relro -fpic -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -znow -zrelro -DOPENSSL_USE_NODELETE -DOPENSSL_PIC -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_MONT -DSHA1_ASM -DSHA256_ASM -DAES_ASM -DNDEBUG -DOPENSSL_PREFER_CHACHA_OVER_GCM -DOPENSSL_SMALL_FOOTPRINT
The 'numbers' are in 1000s of bytes per second processed.
type             16 bytes     64 bytes    256 bytes   1024 bytes   8192 bytes  16384 bytes
sha256             810.73k     2743.05k     6541.82k    10149.59k    12197.29k    12390.04k
sha512             480.61k     1926.49k     2684.66k     3621.33k     4030.24k     4041.39k
</code>