How would one go about benchmarking file systems for a new server with no extra machines at hand? I've ordered one for our research lab and it's not mission cr

How would one go about benchmarking file systems for a new server with no extra machines at hand? I've ordered one for our research lab and it's not mission critical in any way and we have our sweet time to set it up. Is there anything more advanced than: default bare metal install with FS of choice, run benchmark, reinstall with different FS, rinse repeat? Or do you test with VMs?