SPEC releases Server Efficiency Rating Tool
(SERT)
SERT testing part of EPA's ENERGY STAR for Servers v2.0
specification; establishes universal standard to help increase server energy
efficiency worldwide
GAINESVILLE, Va., February
26, 2013
-- The Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC) has released the Server Efficiency Rating Tool (SERT), designed to help computer
manufacturers develop more energy-efficient products and enable datacenters to reduce
energy consumption.
SERT testing is a mandatory part of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ENERGY STAR for Servers v2.0
specification, expected to be published in late February 2013.
Improving datacenter energy efficiency
According to an EPA report, datacenters accounted for nearly three
percent of total U.S. electricity consumption in 2011. The EPA and SPEC see SERT as a major tool
that will help datacenters become more energy-efficient.
"We believe that this tool will provide excellent insight
into server energy performance and help computing professionals better
understand the energy consumption of products, which in turn will help reduce
operating costs and help datacenter managers more precisely plan their future
energy needs," says Robert J. Meyers, ENERGY STAR's datacenter products
lead.
Simple-to-use, full-featured tool
Although SERT benefits from SPEC's extensive experience developing
SPECpower_ssj2008, it
differs in key ways from a benchmark. It
does not provide comparative scores and is designed to test systems "as
shipped," without the extensive tuning that vendors typically perform to
increase benchmark test scores.
"SERT is designed to be an economical and simple-to-use tool,
requiring minimal equipment and skills," says Klaus-Dieter Lange,
SPECpower committee chair. "We expect it to drive more efficient solutions from server manufacturers and to provide guidance that will lead datacenter managers to better
energy-related decisions."
Built on SPEC’s Chauffeur framework, major characteristics of SERT
include:
· Synthetic
worklets that test discrete system components such as memory and storage,
providing detailed power consumption data at different load levels.
· Automatic
collection of system configuration data with a graphical user interface to
review and edit the information.
· Automatic
validation of results at both runtime and upon completion of testing.
· Multi-threading
and multiple-system runs, providing scalability across a wide range of servers.
· Portability
to various computing platforms.
· Run-time
behavior that can be changed for research purposes.
· Results
available in both machine- and human-readable forms, enabling automatic
submission to government-sponsored certification programs.
Cooperative development
The
SPECpower committee that developed SERT includes representatives from AMD,
Dell, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, Intel and Microsoft, with veteran SPEC benchmark
developers Greg Darnell, Alan Adamson and post-graduate researcher Christian Koopmann as supporting contributors. The EPA provides
regular high-level policy and directional guidance to the SPECpower committee,
and other organizations around the world contribute input and feedback.
Available immediately
SERT is
available immediately from SPEC for $2,800. Discounts are available for
qualifying non-profit research and academic organizations. SERT requires a
SPEC-accepted power analyzer and temperature sensor. Visit www.spec.org/sert/ for more information.
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 130
leading computer hardware and software vendors, educational institutions,
research organizations, and government agencies worldwide.
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