News
Dell Retakes TPC-C Price-Performance Lead
- By Scott Bekker
- 04/02/2002
Dell Computer Corp. reclaimed the price-performance lead on the
Transaction Processing Performance Council's TPC-C benchmark for OLTP systems.
Dell, Compaq and IBM have been slugging it out on the closely-watched benchmark in recent months to show the best performance at the least cost on Windows 2000/SQL Server 2000 systems.
In February, Compaq became the first vendor to drop below $4 per tpmC (transactions per minute on the TPC-C benchmark). Dell raised, or rather lowered, the bar in March from Compaq's $3.99/tpmC to $3.68/tpmC.
A two-processor ProLiant ML370 anchored the Compaq benchmark run, which churned out 17,078 tpmC. Dell, by contrast, used a one-processor PowerEdge 2500 to get to 11,537 tpmC. Both vendors used 1.26 GHz Intel Pentium III processors.
Dell also holds the No. 3 spot on the price-performance list, with a one-way server at $4.38/tpmC, while IBM is in fourth place with a two-way xSeries 360 at $4.41/tpmC.
Analysts and vendors say the real-world price war for entry-level servers has been between Dell and IBM, with IBM slashing prices to match Dell in several industry segments.
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.