Oracle WebLogic Server, Oracle Database 11g, and Sun SPARC Enterprise servers join forces to deliver a new world record on the SPECjAppServer2004 benchmark

(As of Thursday, 3 June 2010)

Oracle's combined hardware and software configuration offers a complete applications-to-disk solution for this SPECjAppServer2004 benchmark. Five of Oracle's Sun SPARC Enterprise T5440 servers running Oracle WebLogic Server 11g and a Sun SPARC Enterprise M9000 server running Oracle Database 11g with six Sun Storage F5100 Flash Arrays posted a new world record result on this multi-tier benchmark.

With the massive scalability of chip multi-threaded (CMT) technology, the Sun SPARC Enterprise T5440 server is an ideal deployment platform for Java-based applications. The Sun SPARC Enterprise M9000 server, which scales up to 64 quad-core processors, is an ideal platform for mission-critical database deployments. Oracle Solaris, the leading enterprise operating system, offers the stability and reliability required by customers deploying Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g or Oracle Database 11g. The new world record result raises the bar for other application servers and showcases the integrated approach used by Oracle to combine enterprise-class software, servers, and storage.

SPECjAppServer2004 is a multi-tier benchmark that measures the performance of Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) technology-based application servers, and was developed to aid potential users in understanding the capabilities of different solutions under a heavy load. It measures the volume of transactions a particular system configuration can process while maintaining specified response times for 90 percent of the transactions.

SPECjAppServer2004 is an end-to-end application benchmark which exercises all parts of the underlying infrastructure that make up the application environment, including hardware, Java Virtual Machine (JVM) software, database software, JDBC drivers, and the system network.

Table 1. Multi-node SPECjAppServer2004 benchmark (Application Tier)

• Table 1 compares the application tier of Oracle's solution against competing result from IBM. The powerful combination of Oracle WebLogic 10.3.3 Application Server and Java Hotspot Virtual Machine (VM), integral components of Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g, and Oracle Solaris 10 propelled the Sun SPARC-based solution to the new world record result of 28,648.74 SPECjAppServer2004 JOPS@Standard.
• Five Sun SPARC Enterprise T5440 servers, equipped with four 1.6GHz UltraSPARC T2 Plus processors at the application tier, used Oracle Solaris Containers to consolidate eight Oracle WebLogic Server instances and demonstrated a robust solution for consolidating existing enterprise-class workloads. Customers can quickly and easily move their existing physical environments to virtual containers on Oracle Solaris and take advantage of the performance, scalability, and cost savings of Sun SPARC Enterprise servers.
• Compared to IBM, Oracle's solution used only 1/3 the number of server systems, consuming 26% less physical space and delivering 1.7x better performance per rack unit (RU).
• Sun SPARC Enterprise T5440 servers used internal disks to accommodate all application data further reducing physical footprint of this integrated solution.

Table 2. Multi-node SPECjAppServer2004 benchmark (Database Tier)

• Table 2 compares the Database tier of Oracle's solution against competing results from HP and IBM. The Sun SPARC Enterprise M9000 server configured with SPARC64 processors and running Oracle Database 11g on top of Oracle Solaris 10 supported the database tier of the benchmark, beating IBM's POWER-based configuration.
• Oracle's largest multiprocessor enterprise-class server, the Sun SPARC Enterprise M9000, coupled with Oracle Solaris 10, the leading enterprise operating system, which provides best-in-class reliability, security, and scalability, delivered higher results than the HP Superdome server in 30% less floor space.

Table 3. Multi-node SPECjAppServer2004 benchmark (Physical Footprint)

Table 3 depicts the physical footprint for all the relevant hardware (excluding the Database server which is covered in Table 2) used in this solution versus competitive submissions. Based on SPECjAppServer2004 benchmark results, Oracle has a footprint that is 2.7x more compact than IBM and almost 7x better than HP's solution.

The SPECjAppServer2004 benchmark can be used for evaluating a large-scale deployment of Java-based applications and a database, as it captures the end-to-end performance of a vendor's solution and highlights its scalability. On this benchmark, the Sun SPARC Enterprise servers excelled in both application and database server roles. The Sun SPARC Enterprise T5440 server demonstrated its ability to perform business-critical operations and act as a superb Java EE application server, while the Sun SPARC Enterprise M9000 server coupled with six Sun Storage F5100 Flash Arrays, delivered an outstanding database performance.

These results demonstrate that Oracle's complete, open, and integrated solution, based on Sun SPARC Enterprise servers, is ideal for enterprise deployments, as it delivers the best performance on the planet in the most space efficient manner.

• Benchmark Results

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. SPEC and the benchmark name SPECjAppServer are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Competitive data obtained from http://www.spec.org as of the date located next to the respective claim. See the Website for latest results. Sun SPARC Enterprise T5440 cluster (20 chips, 160 cores) 28,648.74 SPECjAppServer2004 JOPS@Standard. HP BL870c cluster (68 chips, 136 cores) 28,463.03 SPECjAppServer2004 JOPS@Standard. IBM HS21 cluster (32 chips, 128 cores) 22,634.13 SPECjAppServer2004 JOPS@Standard.