Wave Issue 0105 1/26/01 Article 1-01

***SPEC Releases SPECmail2001 Benchmark
(January 24)

The Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC) has released
SPECmail2001, a standardized benchmark that measures mail-server
performance using a real-world workload. Initial SPECmail2001
performance results are available on the SPEC web site.

SPECmail2001 was developed by mail-server vendors and research
organizations to enable performance evaluations for systems
supporting the Post Office Protocol (POP3) and Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol (SMTP). It is designed for Internet service
providers (ISPs) and company IT departments that require
performance data to support mail-server purchase decisions. It
also allows mail-server and computer systems vendors to test and
fine-tune products under development.

SPECmail2001 models the stress placed on a mail-server system
from an ISP's consumer users. It simulates e-mail users' actions
such as sending mail, checking for new mail, and retrieving
messages. The benchmark profiles the typical mix of message
sizes, connectivity bandwidth, origins of received and sent mail,
and other factors that are critical to performance. Mail servers
under test are required to store a certain number of mail
messages and to meet quality-of-service criteria.

Results from SPECmail2001 are based on a "messages-per-minute"
rating that indicates the load the mail server can sustain with a
reasonable quality of service. A higher rating indicates a more
powerful mail server. In addition to providing data for
purchasing decisions, SPECmail2001 results can be used for
capacity planning.

SPECmail2001 was designed and implemented by Compaq, Mirapoint,
Openwave Systems and Sun Microsystems. Over the past two years,
Netscape, Critical Path, SGI, IBM, Hewlett-Packard and the
University of Pavia (Italy) also contributed to its development.

SPECmail2001 is available immediately from SPEC for $1,800, with
a discount price of $900 for universities and other non-profit
organizations.

www.spec.org/osg/mail2001/