The descriptions below summarize and compare the benchmarking resources scouted for
this article. Availability ranges from free (WebStone is an open, non-proprietary
benchmark you can download source code for) to none (the Web66 GStone benchmarks
results are available, but not the software itself).
SGI's WebStone
WebStone, from SGI,
was the first available benchmarking software for the Web. It measures throughput and
latency for HTTP GET requests, and simulates the load from a varying number of clients.
It gives you either statistical output or (if requested) data for each transaction. WebStone
also reports transaction failures, and touts itself as being highly customizable, so you can
get results that measure how your particular setup will perform. WebStone is an open
(some say de facto-Ed.) standard and is available free for download.
Ziff-Davis' WebBench
WebBench was
developed by the Ziff-Davis Benchmark Operation for use in Ziff-Davis publications'
evaluations. It produces two overall scores, one for requests per second, and one for
throughput as measured in bytes per second. WebBench includes an additional, dynamic
test suite which uses CGI operations, but these tests are platform-dependent. Output is in
the form of an Excel workbook, and shows both overall statistics and data for the
individual clients. Clients for WebBench must run on Windows 95 or Windows NT
systems. The software is licensed-but free for download, or you can order the CD for a
nominal cost ($5, ZDBOp, 1001 Aviation Parkway, Suite 400, Morrisville, NC 27560).
The SPEC's SPECweb96
SPECweb96 is the benchmark for The
Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC), a non-profit body that develops
standards for workstation performance measurements. Unlike WebStone, SPECweb96
doesn't let you customize the workload configuration. The workloads were established by
studying representative Internet sites and includes a range of file sizes from 1 KB to 1 MB.
People who are shopping for a potential server can study the benchmark results
(www.specbench.org/osg/web96/results/)
submitted by member companies and know they're getting an even comparison. If you
want to buy the software to run the test yourself, the cost is $800.
