RPMark95 Results

CLIENT/SERVER LABS of Atlanta, Georgia, has announced an independent test suite that runs three simultaneous loads on a server--decision support (DSS), online transaction processing (OLTP), and office automation (OA). The relative performance of these three workloads is combined into a single measurement, called an RPMark 95. The RPMark allows you to compare server performance--even between different architectures.

Windows NT Server and NEC's RISCServer 2200 prove to be a powerful price/performance combination against competing servers. Even with a separate onboard file server CPU (FSIOD option), the AS/400 does not fare well against Windows NT--the latest contender in midrange computing.

The DSS test is based on the Transaction Processing Council's (TPC's) decision-support benchmark, called TPC-D, which simulates DSS by using a database stress test and complex queries.

The OLTP test is based on a modified version of TPC-C. TPC-C tries to model a moderate-to-complex OLTP system based on an order-entry system. Transactions are submitted from UNIX dumb terminals that interact with nine tables on the server database (approximately 250GB). TPC-C is measured in transactions per minute (tpm). Client/Server Labs has modified this test to use PCs instead of dumb terminals and to reduce the database size.

The OA test is based on BAPCO's SYSmark benchmark, which runs a set of scripts against popular desktop applications: cc:Mail, Excel, Freelance, Lotus 1-2-3, Microsoft Word, Harvard Graphics, and Paradox.

For more information, please email Chandler Kim at ckim@cslinc.com, on the Web at http://www.cslinc.com, or call 770-552-3645.