SPECwpc Update Adds Virtualization Support, Automation For Results Reporting

In February, SPEC updated its SPECviewperf 12 benchmark to add support for virtualized environments, and it appears that the demand for such metrics is huge, as it’s followed-up with a SPECwpc update that adds support for the same thing. The latest version is 1.2, and as with SPECviewperf, results from the previous version (1.0.4) remain valid.

It might be a little hard to imagine that anyone would conduct their serious work inside of a virtualized environment, but Jon Peddie Research sees a bright future ahead: “Our conservative estimates project workstation-capable virtual desktop installations increasing from essentially zero two years ago to nearly 350,000 clients by 2018.”

Whereas SPECviewperf benchmarks the viewport performance in numerous market-leading scientific and 3D applications, SPECwpc puts most of those same apps’ workloads, and others, to the test. The benchmark includes over 30 individual tests, covering media and entertainment, product development, energy, financial services, life sciences, and general operations.

You can grab the updated SPECwpc right here. As before, it’s free for personal use, or $5,000 for commercial use.