SPEC releases new application server benchmark

WARRENTON, Va., April 28, 2004 -- The Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC) has released SPECjAppServer2004, a new benchmark that measures the performance of Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) application servers.

SPECjAppServer2004 is a completely new benchmark and not comparable to SPEC J2EE benchmarks released in late 2002. It includes a modified workload and features that stress more of the capabilities of J2EE 1.3 or later application servers.

"We've been aggressive in releasing new versions of SPECjAppServer benchmarks so we can provide performance evaluation tools that evolve in concert with J2EE," says Kaivalya M. Dixit, SPEC president. "J2EE is the foundation software in many modern e-commerce implementations. This benchmark provides a level playing field on which to test and compare the latest J2EE hardware and software platforms."

Emulating a real-world workload

SPECjAppServer2004 tests performance for a representative J2EE application and each of the components that make up the application environment, including hardware, application server software, JVM software, database software, JDBC drivers, and the system network. It was developed by SPEC's Java subcommittee, which includes BEA, Borland, Darmstadt University of Technology, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Oracle, Pramati, Sun Microsystems and Sybase.

The workload is an application that emulates information flow among an automotive dealership, manufacturing, supply chain management, and an order/inventory system. The latest version expands the SPECjAppServer benchmark to exercise more capabilities of J2EE application servers. SPECjAppServer2004 load drivers access the application through the web layer for the automotive dealership and through Enterprise Java Beans (EJBs) for the manufacturing domain. The new benchmark also measures performance for the web tier and messaging infrastructure.

Performance is measured in SPECjAppServer2004 by a metric called JOPS (jAppServer Operations Per Second). The metric is derived by adding the operations per second in the dealer domain to the work orders per second in the manufacturing domain.

Available immediately

SPECjAppServer2004 is available immediately from SPEC for $2,000. More information is available at http://www.spec.org/osg/jAppServer2004 or through e-mail at info@spec.org.

About SPEC

SPEC 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; email: info@spec.org; web: www.spec.org.

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Press contacts:
Bob Cramblitt, Erin Hatfield
Cramblitt & Company
919-481-4599; cramco@cramco.com

J2EE, Java, and EJB are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
SPECjAppServer is a trademark of SPEC.