Re: Oracle Benchmark Results for Different Hardware Configurations?

On Thu, 14 Sep 2006 00:46:16 +0000, Bob Jones wrote:
>>
>> I often refer to the SpecMark info to get a general idea of the capability
>> of a machine. Different SpecMarks for different machines - and similar
>> specmarks give me similar responses in load handling ability regardless of
>> vendor.
>>

> 
> Regardless of applications too? After all that is the most important 
> variable out of the bunch.

Absolutely, regardless of applications. As a first step.

The idea is to get a baseline for a known neutral application on one machine. Pick an application that has recognizable characteristics that may be applicable to the environment. Try to pick the application as being a specific subset of the application, perhaps such as adding two numbers.

    Do the same on a second machine.

The second step is to get an idea of how many times your application adds two numbers. If it's a significant - and if the application is not resource-limited - one can easily extrapolate the impact of switching to the second machine, especially when holding all other factors constant.

Iterate steps one and two with the next baseline application.

When using other people's benchmarks, Step 1 always is to get the baselines. Step 2 is to see how relevant they are to your application and factor that into the usefulness of the specific benchmark.

Just because a benchmark doesn't exactly match a specific scenario doesn't mean it's useless. It just means that a relevance adjustment has to be factored in. But until that relevance is determined, the benchmark (either formally or informally) can not be tossed. (IOW, it means one actually have to think.)

Of course, one can potentially speed this process up entirely by using a larger baseline, such as the application itself. Or someone else's application that has characteristics that are known to be similar (at least in some areas) to the target

... which is the intent of the TPCs. How well they do the job is a topic for another discussion ...

-- 
Hans Forbrich   (mailto: Fuzzy.GreyBeard_at_gmail.com)   
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