http://www.microsoft.com/SQL/tpcb.htm (PC Press Internet CD, 03/1996)
For Release 8 a.m. PDT
December 4, 1995
REDMOND, Wash. December 4, 1995 - Microsoft Corporation, rapidly emerging as the leader in scalable distributed database technology, and Digital Equipment Corporation today announced audited TPC-C™database benchmark results that establish new records for database throughput and price/performance on open systems platforms.
The benchmark, run with Microsoft's SQL Server version 6.5 multithreaded parallel processing database server on the Windows NT Server version 3.51 operating system, achieved transaction throughput of 3,194 transactions per minute (tpmC) on Digital's AlphaServer™ 2100 5/300 with three processors, and set a new world record, breaking the $200/tpmC mark with a cost of $196 per tpmC. These results are the highest yet achieved on any open systems platform with a total system cost of less than $1 million, breaking the previous world record for database price/performance, also held by Microsoft.
"Just 10 months ago the best database performance ever achieved on any UNIX-based SMP platform was 3,118 transactions per minute," said Jim Allchin, Microsoft senior vice president, Business Systems Division. "Today, Microsoft and Digital are delivering superior performance with Microsoft SQL Server on Windows NT Server, at one third the cost and with fewer than half the number of processors. This combination is proving to be extremely compelling for customers who are seeking enterprise-level performance and scalability without the cost and complexity of other solutions."
"The combination of Microsoft SQL Server, Windows NT, and AlphaServer 2100 5/300 delivers unprecedented performance and scalability," said Pauline Nist, Digital vice president of the AlphaServer Business Segment. "We have demonstrated that customers can leverage the strengths of both the AlphaServer and Microsoft's high-performance BackOffice software platform to provide cost-effective solutions in the enterprise."
The benchmark is the first ever published on Digital's 300 MHZ AlphaServer 2100 5/300 using three processors, 2 GB RAM, , as well as the first results for the new 6.5 version of Microsoft SQL Server, scheduled to enter beta test in January (see related release), and which builds on the already strong performance and scalability of Microsoft SQL Server 6.0. The test gives Microsoft the top two price/performance results in the industry on the TPC-C benchmark.
In this test Microsoft SQL Server dramatically outperformed other database systems on comparable hardware and many on much larger hardware systems. With throughput of 3,194 tpmC on Digital's three-processor hardware, Microsoft SQL Server was faster than all but one 32-bit eight-processor system ever tested. The Microsoft and Digital combination even outperformed a Tandem Himalaya K10000-16 with 16 processors and costing $3.5 million!
Microsoft SQL Server further demonstrated its superior scalability for online transaction processing in supporting 3,000 end-to-end users without the use of an external transaction-processing (TP) monitor. No other DBMS product has achieved this level of performance and scalability in TPC-C testing without a TP monitor, which is typically required in order to process the extremely high numbers of concurrent users in the benchmarks. This extraordinary achievement results from the superior parallel, multithreaded database architecture Microsoft has engineered into SQL Server.
Today's breakthrough results were achieved in a heterogeneous computing environment, on clients using Microsoft SQL Server's native ODBC client software available from Visigenic® for SCO® UNIX, running on Digital's Intel-based Prioris PC systems. With these results, Digital and Microsoft have demonstrated that an industry-standard API can fully meet the performance and scalability needs of business-critical applications. Microsoft SQL Server supports ODBC as a native API, which eliminates the performance bottlenecks of the layered drivers available from other database vendors. Visigenic delivers native ODBC drivers for SQL Server under license from Microsoft for heterogeneous platforms including UNIX, Macintosh and OS/2.
The results are one example of the strategic alliance announced on August 2, 1995, by Digital and Microsoft, to meet customer demand for Microsoft-based solutions and support in enterprisewide computing. The alliance combines Microsoft client-server products with Digital's leadership in enterprise systems, service, support and systems integration, enabling customers to deploy business solutions on the Microsoft® Windows® and Windows NT operating systems with assurance of integration into the most complex business environments.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Microsoft, Windows NT and BackOffice are either registered trademarks
or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other
countries.
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TPC-C is a trademark of Transaction Processing Performance Council.
Digital and AlphaServer are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.
UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other
countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Ltd.
Informix is a registered trademark of Informix Software Inc.
IBM and DB2 are registered trademarks of International Business
Machines Corp.
AT&T is a registered trademark of American Telephone and Telegraph
Co.
SYBASE is a registered trademark of Sybase Inc.
Compaq is a registered trademarks and ProLiant is a trademark
of Compaq Computer Corp.
TUXEDO is a registered trademark of Novell Inc.
Visigenic is a registered trademark of Visigenic Software Inc.
SCO is a registered trademark of The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corp.
Claudia Toth, Waggener Edstrom, (503) 245-0905