Fast random number generation
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Linux
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Last update
2017-08-17
2017
08-17
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Here is some empirical data from my notebook, the last command is the fastest:

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# ~40MB/s | OpenSSL rand
openssl rand 1000000000 | pv > /dev/null

# ~175MB/s | /dev/urandom
pv < /dev/urandom > /dev/null

# ~1200MB/s | OpenSSL enc /dev/zero
openssl enc -aes-256-ctr -nosalt \
  -pass pass:"$(dd if=/dev/urandom bs=128 count=1 2>/dev/null | base64)" \
   < /dev/zero | pv > /dev/null

Source: OpenSSL rand, OpenSSL enc /dev/zero