Workload characterization of the SPECpower-ssj2008 benchmark

Abstract

SPEC has recently released SPECpower-ssj2008, the first industry benchmark which measures performance and power of volume server class computers using graduated load levels. In this paper, we present a brief overview and an initial characterization of this benchmark by measuring the system resource utilization with the aid of processor monitoring events at graduated load levels and by comparing the sensitivity of final metric and other related data between various configurations consisting of hardware changes as well as software changes on Quad Core Intel Xeon processor based servers. Even though this is early data from a specific platform and OS, it still validates many expected patterns and opens exciting new opportunities for researchers to investigate specific areas as well as in-depth characterization as a next step. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.