SERT® 2 Suite

The SERT® Suite provides a first order of approximation of server efficiency across a broad range of application environments. It is designed to be economical and easier to use by utilizing a comprehensive graphical user interface (GUI) and predetermined sets of tuning parameters. The SERT suite has been implemented and tested for a variety of 64-bit processors, operating systems, and JVMs. It is scalable and tested up to a maximum of 8 processor sockets and a maximum of 64 nodes. The server under test (SUT) may be a single stand-alone server or a multi-node set of servers. A multi-node SUT will consist of server nodes that cannot run independently of shared infrastructure such as a backplane, power-supplies, fans, or other elements. These shared infrastructure systems are commonly known as blade servers or multi-node servers.

The main body of code is in written in Java in order to lower the burden of cross-platform support. The framework is designed to accommodate other program languages as well. A series of different workload characteristics are implemented to demonstrate the effectiveness of different server sizes and configurations. The workload also utilized SPEC's concept of multiple load levels and details can be found in the design document. Regulatory programs are designed to foster continuous improvement, with thresholds for success rising as the industry progresses. The SERT suite is designed to match this paradigm by implementing a quick adoption process of new computing technologies.

The right balance between high repeatability of the results, high sub-system coverage, and low resource allocation is desirable and resulted in a run time of around 2 ½ hours. The results output, including the SERT suite metric, are generated in both machine- and human-readable forms, enabling automatic submission to government-sponsored certification programs as well as both summary and detail reports for use by potential customers.

News:

September 25th, 2024: U.S. EPA adopts SPEC's SERT 2.0.8 Suite
The United States Department of Energy's (DOE) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a memo titled "ENERGY STAR Computer Servers SERT V2.0.8 Clarification Memo" For the purposes of ENERGY STAR certification, computer servers should be tested using SERT Version 2.0.8 moving forward.

June 11th, 2024: SPEC's SERT 2.0.8 Suite Released
SPEC has released a new ISO-compliant version of the SERT suite. The SERT 2.0.8 Suite adds support for regulatory certification with NVIDIA Grace, AMD Instinct MI300A, and Microsoft Pioneer platforms. Additionally, SERT 2.0.8 contains the PTDaemon 1.11.0 interface and support for newer LTS java versions. Documentation was updated with clarification on closed loop liquid cooling support.

July 24th, 2023: U.S. EPA adopts SPEC's SERT 2.0.7 Suite
The United States Department of Energy's (DOE) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a memo titled "ENERGY STAR Computer Servers SERT V2.0.7 Clarification Memo" For the purposes of ENERGY STAR certification, computer servers should be tested using SERT Version 2.0.7 moving forward.

May 31st, 2023: SPEC's SERT 2.0.7 Suite Released
SPEC has released a new ISO-compliant version of the SERT suite. The SERT 2.0.7 Suite adds support for regulatory certification with AmpereOne and other future ARM-compatible processors developed by Ampere. It also addresses an ARM specific disk I/O bug.

October 3rd, 2022: U.S. EPA adopts SPEC's SERT 2.0.6 Suite
The United States Department of Energy's (DOE) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a memo titled "ENERGY STAR Computer Servers SERT V2.0.6 Clarification Memo" For the purposes of ENERGY STAR certification, computer servers should be tested using SERT Version 2.0.6 moving forward.

August 31st, 2022: SPEC's SERT 2.0.6 Suite Released
SPEC has released a new ISO-compliant version of the SERT suite. The SERT 2.0.6 Suite adds supports for regulatory certification with Windows Server 2022, has the PTDaemon Interface v1.10.0 integrated, and contains bug fixes.

November 2nd, 2020: ISO/IEC 21836:2020 adopts SPEC's SERT suite for measuring server efficiency.
"ISO/IEC 21836:2020 Information technology – Data centres – Server energy effectiveness metric" has been published and the SERT suite has been chosen to measure server efficiency. Please see "ISO 21836:2020 SERT Suite Requirements" for guidance on using SERT with this ISO standard.

Information

Technical documentation for the SERT suite
Technical and support documents, run and reporting rules, etc.

JVM Options Guide for 2.0
User Guide 
Simplified Chinese User Guide 
Run and Reporting Rules
Result File Field Descriptions 
Efficiency Score Metric 

Technical Design Documents:   
          Design Document
          PTDaemon® Tool Design

Power and Performance Methodology
Accepted Measurement Devices
Platform Enablement and Acceptance Process
Simplified Chinese Platform Enablement and Acceptance Process

Support

Technical support requiring involvement of specialists is done by volunteers from our member institutions (see member list). Please do not send us any proprietary information in your queries.

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ) - Installation and runtime issues raised by users of the SERT tool.
Support Request Form
Power Measurement Setup Guide

Component Update Process (Draft)

In the quickly evolving world of computer servers, software updates are needed to enable support for new hardware and software platforms, to address software bugs, or to enhance usability.

However, to accurately compare the SERT suite results, consistency in elements which affect the measurement, is required. Additionally, when the SERT suite is implemented, it is imperative that changes which affect result comparability are not introduced for the duration of a government regulatory program.

To accommodate these requirements, the following test plans (draft) have been developed to maintain comparability of measurement results while allowing updates.

The SERT Suite Component Update Process (draft)

Updates

June 11th, 2024: the SERT 2.0.8 Suite released

For details on the update process, visit the the SERT suite update page

Future Considerations

The following are currently under consideration for future versions:

Devices and Technologies

• Tensor Processing Units(TPU), GPUs, and other accelerators(APA)
• Database
• DC Power Supplies
• Multi-level Memory(MLM)
• Single Package
• DIMM
• CXL
• Network
• Data Plane Development Kit(DPDK)
• SMARTnic
• Storage (mixed workloads)
• Unpopulated Memory Channels

Workloads

• Artificial Intelligence
• Deep Learning
• Training/Inference
• HGEMM
• IGEMM
• Machine Learning
• GPU/APA Acceleration
• Security
• Post Quantum Encryption
• Mixed Cyphers, High Key Size, Signature Creation
• Serverless
• Scientific Computing(GPU/APA Stress)
• SGEMM
• STREAM
• FFT
• DGEMM
• Computer Vision
• Image Classification
• Object Detection
• Medical Image Segmentation
• Distributed Ledger
• Blockchain
• Natural Language Processing(NLP)
• Spellcheck
• Autocomplete
• Voice/text messaging
• Knowledge Base/Customer Support(Bots)
• PC Consolidation
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure(VDI)
• Idle

Credits