New SPEC SFS Benchmark Measures Both CIFS and NFS Server Performance

WARRENTON, Va. – The Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC) has released SPECsfs2008, a new benchmark that characterizes file server performance based on typical CIFS (Common Internet File System) and NFS (Network File System) workloads.

SPECsfs2008 introduces a new workload for NFS and adds support for CIFS, the standard file sharing protocol for Microsoft Windows clients and servers. The SPECsfs subcommittee created the NFS and CIFS workloads based on data collected across thousands of servers from vendor and customer environments. In addition to NFS and CIFS support, SPECsfs2008 runs on a wide range of client operating systems, including Windows, Linux, BSD, Solaris, AIX and MacOS.

Vendors will use SPECsfs2008 to measure and improve server performance, for capacity planning, and to publish results for competitive positioning in the file server market. IT managers will use the benchmark to validate server performance, plan capacity, and conduct internal performance studies. The new software replaces SPEC SFS 3.0, released in late 2001.

“SPECsfs2008 is the fruit of a long-term R&D effort that included developing a completely new workload-generation mechanism to accommodate CIFS, major updating of the NFS workload, and writing new code to support a multi-client networked environment,” says Don Capps, chair of the SPECsfs subcommittee. “With this modernization and expansion, SPEC’s SFS benchmark should remain the gold standard for file server performance evaluation.”

SPEC member companies active in developing SPECsfs2008 include Apple, EMC, IBM, Iozone.org, Network Appliance, NSPLab, Panasas, SGI and Sun.

About the benchmark

SPECsfs2008 measures the throughput and response time of NFS and CIFS servers based on workloads that represent the activity of large-scale servers in real customer environments. Results are presented on a graph showing a series of 10 or more load points with operations per second on the X axis and latency on the Y axis. Peak operations per second and a calculation of the overall response time for the entire run are used to summarize results.

SPECsfs2008 is available immediately from SPEC for $1,600; discounts are available for qualified non-profit and educational institutions.