The answer is pretty simple to solve your IO question/performance.
Simple solution.
Have the provider run download and install the following.
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/...1.0-wht.tar.gz
gunzip -dvc unixbench-4.1.0-wht.tar.gz | tar xvf -
# cd unixbench-4.1.0-wht
# make
# ./Run
post results
it will produce a score based on IO/cpu/etc Good for creating benchmarks/work loads agains various server configurations.