Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!bbn!apple!voder!cullsj!gupta
From: gupta@cullsj.UUCP (Yogesh Gupta)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Database benchmarks - debit/credit and TP1
Summary: Nobody does DebitCredit anymore!
Message-ID: <494@cullsj.UUCP>
Date: 7 Feb 89 23:05:39 GMT
References: <880@cantuar.UUCP> <820@altos86.UUCP> <2632@rtech.rtech.com>
Organization: Cullinet Software, San Jose, CA
Lines: 42

In article <2632@rtech.rtech.com>, davek@rtech.rtech.com (Dave Kellogg) writes:
> 
> To overview this in a nutshell.
> 
>  [A succint comment about TP1]
> 
>  [A brief history of DebitCredit]
> 
> 	   1. "A Measure of Transaction Processing Power", Tandem Technical 
> 	       Report TR85.2.  February 1985, Tandem Computers
> 
> 	   2. "A Measure of Transaction Processing Power", Datamation, Volume
> 	       31, Number 7, 1985
> 
> 
> David Kellogg
> davek@rtech.rtech.com

One thing that people may want to note is that NO commercial vendor
today (including Tandem) does the DebitCredit benchmark as specified
by Anon et. al. in their paper(s) in 1985.  The places where DebitCredit
is compromised is:

   1) the size of the database;
   2) the number of terminals simulated;
   3) the response time limitation;
   4) the think time interval;
   5) the network component.

Also, it is important to note that the paper did NOT emphasize the
transaction rate alone, but the cost per transaction as well.  Most
vendors today calculate their costs differently from the way the
paper specifies or the way the other vendors calculate, making the
numbers VERY hard to compare.

However, even with the above state of affair, there is hope in that
there exists a council trying to standardize a benchmark which is similar
to the DebitCredit to clear up some of this.  And yes, I think almost
all the DBMS vendors are participating!
-- 
Yogesh Gupta                    | If you think my company will let me
Cullinet Software, Inc.         | speak for them, you must be joking.