Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation

SPEC to develop standard methods of comparing SIP server performance

WARRENTON, Va., March 27, 2007 - The non-profit Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC) has formed a new subcommittee to develop standard methods of comparing performance for servers using the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

Current SPEC member companies committed to developing a new SIP benchmarking standard include Communigate Systems, HP, Intel, IBM, and Sun Microsystems.

Seeking industry input

SPEC is interested in hearing from IT managers and other potential users of SIP-based services to ensure that the subcommittee understands customer needs and can develop the best possible benchmarking solutions. Organizations that are not currently SPEC members are invited to join the new subcommittee.

"SIP is a protocol of rapidly growing significance," says Erich Nahum, research staff member at IBM and chair of the subcommittee. "Its uses go far beyond just voice over IP, including instant messaging, presence, conferencing and IPTV. Vendors and customers will clearly benefit from having industry-standard SIP server benchmarks."

Defining the methodology

In developing a new SIP server benchmark, SPEC will draw on its expertise in creating widely used system-level benchmark suites such as SPECjAppServer2004 and SPECweb2005.

The subcommittee is defining a first version of the benchmark based on a SIP proxy server modeling an enterprise VoIP deployment. Subsequent versions will likely include instant messaging and presence. A key component of the benchmark will be capturing user behavior and how users stress the server. The benchmark is intended not only to compare SIP solutions but also to aid in server provisioning.

SPEC expects that a wide range of computer server manufacturers, systems integrators, and Internet service providers will run the benchmark and report results. Data from running the benchmark tests is targeted for use by IT professionals and decision makers throughout the industry interested in using SIP for converged voice and data networks and next-generation applications.

For more information

More information on the SPEC SIP performance subcommittee is available at www.spec.org/specsip or by e-mailing: info@spec.org.

About SPEC

SPEC (www.spec.org) is a non-profit organization that establishes, maintains and endorses standardized benchmarks to measure the performance of the newest generation of high-performance computers. Its membership comprises leading computer hardware and software vendors, universities, and research organizations worldwide. For more information, contact Dianne Rice, SPEC, 6585 Merchant Place, Ste. 100, Warrenton, VA 20187, USA; phone: 540-349-7878; fax: 540-349-5992; e-mail: info@spec.org; web: www.spec.org.

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