1996 A Very SPECial New Year!

Larry Gray
Hewlett-Packard
Cupertino, Calif.

Published December, 1995; see disclaimer.

• New Internet Information Access
• New Benchmark Groups and Suites
• New Graphics Performance Group
• New Headquarters and Staff

1996 will bring a number of exciting changes to SPEC products and services that we trust you, as SPEC Newsletter subscribers, benchmark licensees, or interested readers, will greatly appreciate.

New Internet Information Access

At the top of the list, SPEC is proud to announce that, by the time you read this, SPEC's World Wide Web site will be in full operation. Now, via the Internet, you will find the articles and results from this and past newsletters presented in new ways, with extensive search capabilities, all designed to make your access to SPEC benchmark performance data much more simple and efficient. Point your web browser software at http://www.specbench.org, give it a try and please register your feedback.

This new method of publishing brings several distinct advantages and some changes. Most important, SPEC results will be available to anyone with Internet access and, over the course of 1996, SPEC will endeavor to shorten its results submission and publication cycle down to a few weeks as opposed to the quarterly scheme now imposed by formatting, editing and printing lead times. To reduce costs and save trees, SPEC will de-emphasize publication on paper, though we will still offer newsletter subscriptions to those who are either Internet challenged or simply prefer hardcopy.

New Benchmark Groups and Suites

As everyone watching SPEC results is aware, the new SPEC '95 suites have been quickly adopted by SPEC member vendors and industry analysts. This issue of the SPEC Newsletter is clear testimony, with a record number of benchmark disclosures published in this newsletter. As this article went to press, over 300 pages of results have been submitted, 138 of those pages, approx. 40%, from the two new SPEC 95 suites.

The SPEC High Performance Group (HPG) has announced the availability of two benchmarks and results scalable from high end workstations to supercomputers. Announced at Supercomputing '95 conference in San Diego, CA last December, these benchmarks are intended to bring the same consistency and credibility to the performance evaluation of leading edge compute engines where parallel processing and new memory architectures break new ground. Please visit the announcement article on page 4.

New Graphics Performance Group

At its annual meeting in January 1996, the SPEC Board of Directors will charter a new group dedicated to graphics performance evaluation. This new SPEC Graphics Performance Group, formerly the Graphics Performance Characterization Committee (GPC) of the now disbanded National Computer Graphics Association (NCGA) will have membership, mission, goals and activities akin to those of the recently dissolved. Information about the SPEC Group, or any SPEC activity, is available through SPEC headquarters.

New Headquarters Site and Staff

SPEC has relocated its administrative offices to Manassas, Virginia and now employs two full time people to better serve the needs of SPEC customers and members. The new SPEC contact information is:

  SPEC
  10754 Ambassador Drive
  Suite 201
  Manassas, VA 22110;

Phone: 703-331-0180; FAX: 703-331-0181; or http://www.specbench.org.

When traveling to our nation's capitol or thereabouts, swing by Manassas, 15 minutes from Dulles Airport, and meet our competent and friendly staff, Director of Operations Dianne Rice, and Kathy Powers. Dianne will present you a SPEC95 commemorative mousepad as a souvenir of your visit.

Best wishes to you for a happy and prosperous 1996.

Larry Gray manages a benchmark evaluation project within Hewlett-Packard's Computer Systems Organization in Cupertino, Calif.

Copyright (c) 1995 Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation