SPEC releases SPECmail2008 benchmark

New benchmark measures performance for enterprise-wide SMTP and IMAP4 servers

WARRENTON, Va., August 19, 2008 — The Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC) has released SPECmail2008, a new benchmark that measures performance for enterprise mail servers compliant with SMTP and IMAP4 protocols.

The new benchmark uses real-world workloads to simulate the typical activities of mail servers operating in business enterprises. It complements SPECmail2001, which is designed for the consumer ISP market based on servers compliant with POP3 and SMTP protocols.

"People have high expectations of e-mail that must be met in the corporate environment," says Yun-seng Chao, chair of the SPEC Mail Server Committee. "Companies can use this benchmark to help ensure that their mail servers live up to their employees' and customers' expectations."

SPEC expects that vendors of e-mail server products will use SPECmail2008 to optimize products under development and to compare performance against competitors. IT managers will use it for product evaluation and to configure mail servers for better efficiency.

Workloads for the benchmark come from data samples collected by participating member companies and universities over an 18-month period. An additional two years was spent analyzing the data to emulate most of the popular IMAP clients, and to simulate common usage patterns within organizations. In addition to the standard set up, users can customize the workloads to reflect their own usage patterns and preferred IMAP client software. The metric for the benchmark, SPECmail_MSEnt2008, represents the number of IMAP4 sessions during a peak hour.

SPEC member companies active in developing SPECmail2008 include Citrix Online, CommuniGate, Mirapoint, Openwave Systems and Sun Microsystems.

SPECmail2008 is available immediately from SPEC for $1,800; discounts are available for qualified non-profit and educational institutions. More details and order information are available at www.spec.org/mail2008/ or through e-mail at info@spec.org.

About SPEC

SPEC is a non-profit organization that establishes, maintains and endorses standardized benchmarks to evaluate performance for the newest generation of computing systems. Its membership comprises more than 80 leading computer hardware and software vendors, educational institutions, research organizations, and government agencies worldwide. For more information, visit www.spec.org or contact the SPEC office by phone: 540-349-7878, fax: 540-349-5992, or email: info@spec.org.

Media contact:

Bob Cramblitt
Cramblitt & Company
919-481-4599; info@cramco.com

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Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation

SPEC releases SPECmail2008 benchmark

New benchmark measures performance for enterprise-wide SMTP and IMAP4 servers