SPEC MPI2007
SPEC MPI2007 is SPEC's benchmark suite for evaluating
MPI-parallel, floating point, compute intensive performance across
a wide range of cluster and SMP hardware. MPI2007 continues the SPEC
tradition of giving HPC users the most objective and representative
benchmark suite for measuring the performance of SMP (shared memory
multi-processor) systems.
SPEC MPI2007 focuses on performance of compute intensive
applications using the Message-Passing Interface (MPI), which means
these benchmarks emphasize the performance of:
- the type of computer processor (CPU),
- the number of computer processors,
- the communication interconnect,
- the memory architecture,
- the compilers, and
- the shared file system.
It is important to remember the contribution of all
these components. SPEC MPI performance intentionally depends on more
than just the processor. MPI2007 is not intended to stress
other computer components such as the operating system, graphics,
or the I/O system.
SPEC MPI2007 V1.1 released
This maintenance release (October 2008) adds updates to benchmarks to
improve portability and code correctness; improvements to report
readability; clarifications and additions to the Run and Reporting Rules;
documentation of the monitor hooks; and easier investigation of alternate
sources or workloads. For a full list of updates, see
Changes in V1.1. Existing licensees
will receive a complimentary upgrade DVD.
Results from V1.0 are comparable to those from V1.1. Beginning January 1, 2009
all SPEC MPI2007 submissions will require the use of version 1.1.
SPEC MPI Benchmark Suite Highlights
- The benchmark programs are developed from native MPI-parallel
end-user applications, as opposed to being synthetic benchmarks
or even parallelized versions of sequential benchmarks.
- SPEC MPI2007 is highly portable.
- Multiple vendors use the suite and support it.
Results
- Submitted Results
- Text, HTML, CSV, PDF, and Configuration file outputs for the
SPEC MPI2007; includes all of the results submitted to SPEC from
member companies and other licensees of the benchmark.
- Flags
- Explanations of the meaning of the flags in the results'
notes sections.
Benchmark Documentation
Important change:
SPEC's HPG group recently voted to not allow the use of automatic
parallelization compiler flags in SPEC MPI2007. This change effectively
renders SPEC MPI2007 as a pure MPI benchmark and is stated as such in newly-added
section 1.1.4 of the run rules.
Any reference to auto parallelization has been removed from the document and the
reporting field "auto_parallel" in the results must always be set to "no" for a compliant
result.
Fortunately, none of the results reviewed and published so far use the auto parallel
option. Furthermore, please note that any "estimated" result, not reviewed
by SPEC HPG, that makes use of the auto parallel option will no longer be compliant.
Licensees of SPEC MPI2007 are encouraged to download the
latest version of the Run & Reporting rules.
If you have any questions, please contact the SPEC office.
- SPEC MPI2007 documentation
- The most current versions of the software documentation, including
system requirements, installation and set up instructions, run and
reporting rules, and explanation of fields in the result file.
- FAQ
- Frequently-asked questions about MPI2007
- Known issues
- Currently-known issues with the benchmark. See also the technical
support documentation.
- SPEC MPI2007 Benchmark Descriptions
- A survey of the benchmarks comprising the MPI2007 suite
