The Evolution of TPC Benchmarks: Why TPC-A and TPC-B are Obsolete

TPC benchmarks provide the de facto industry standard for measuring transaction processing performance. This paper argues that TPC-A and TPC-B have served their purpose and are effectively obsolete. Several problems with the benchmarks are described including flaws in the pricing model, the impact of terminals in the priceperformance metric, use of client-server configurations, and the use of specialized features to improve benchmark performance. TPC-e addresses many of the problems in TPC-A and B. The advantages of TPC-e are shown by comparison to TPC-A. TPC-A has driven substantial improvements in performance and priceperformance, but is at the end of its useful life. TPC-C will drive industry progress in the future. This paper expands upon an earlier version presented at CompCon 93 [Levine]. Tandem Technical Report 93.1 (Part Number 102034) © Tandem Computers, 1993 119333 Valleo Pkwy, LOC 252-10, Cupertino, CA 95014; e-mail: [email protected] 2455 Market St., 7th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105; e-mail: [email protected] 3 Hwy 52&: 37th St., NW, Bldg. 006-2, Dept. SIB, Rochester, MN 55901; e-mail: [email protected] 4151 Taylor St. ITAY 1), Littleton, MA 01460; e-mail: [email protected]