The Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC) has released a new version of its virtualization benchmark that adds support for the latest web encryption protocols and power measurement devices.

The new SPECvirt_sc2013 V1.1 benchmark uses real-world workloads and SPEC's proven performance- and power-measurement methodologies to enable vendors, users and researchers to compare system performance across multiple hardware, virtualization platforms, and applications. It was developed by the SPEC Virtualization subcommittee, whose members and contributors include HPE, IBM, Intel, Lenovo, Oracle, Red Hat, and VMware.

Extending an industry milestone

"Since its introduction six years ago as the first vendor-neutral benchmark to measure the performance of datacenter servers used for virtualized server consolidation, SPECvirt_sc has played a central role in enabling datacenter managers to make better-informed decisions about the right configurations to meet their demands," says David Schmidt, SPEC Virtualization subcommittee chair. "It has also been a valuable development and marketing tool for vendors of virtualization solutions."

Upgrades in SPECvirt_sc2013 V1.1 include:

• Support for newer security protocols -- The new version continues to support SSLv3 and adds support for TLSv1, TLSv1.1 and TLSv1.2 with several new ciphers (encryption algorithms).
• Updates to the power and temperature daemon (PTDaemon) -- The PTDaemon that controls power and temperature measurement has been updated to V1.8.0, the latest version from the SPECpower subcommittee. This version supports the latest power analyzers and temperature sensors.
• Response to user feedback -- Improvements have been made to documentation in response to user suggestions and bug reports.

SPECvirt_sc2013 V1.1 results are comparable to results from V1.0. Result submissions to the SPEC website can be made with the V1.0 or V1.1 version of the benchmark until December 21, 2016, after which all submissions must be made with V1.1.

Available immediately

SPECvirt_sc2013 V1.1 is available for immediate download from SPEC. The cost is $3,000 for new customers; discounts are available for qualified non-profit and educational institutions.

Upgrades to V1.1 are free for current licensees. SPEC will contact existing licensees and make arrangements for free downloads.

Additional product and ordering information is available on the SPEC web site at https://www.spec.org/virt_sc2013/.