SNIA Client Solid State Storage Performance Test Spec

The Solid State Storage Initiative (SSSI) of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) announced that the Client Solid State Storage (SSS) Performance Test Specification (PTS) has been released to the public.

The Client PTS defines a suite of tests and test methodologies necessary to enable comparative testing of individual SSS client device performance. Over 50 individuals from 25 companies have collaborated on the development and release of the SSS PTS. These companies represent SSS manufacturers, SSS controller makers, test labs, and computer system OEMs.

In this context, a Client SSD is defined as one implemented in a single user non-shared environment, such as a personal computer or desktop workstation. In contrast, typical environments for enterprise SSDs are multi-user servers and other shared implementations. The Enterprise SSS Performance Test Specification was released in May 2011.

"The Client SSS Performance Test Specification brings standardized performance testing to SSDs in single user environments," said Paul Wassenberg, chair of the SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative. "The reports generated by the Client SSS PTS clearly show the performance of SSDs under various conditions, allowing users to objectively compare products from different manufacturers."

"The solid state storage market has so far lacked a meaningful way to express SSD performance," said Jim Handy, Chief Analyst at Objective Analysis. "Bandwidth and IOPS measurements, while satisfactory for HDDs, are sorely lacking with this new technology. The SNIA Client PTS borrows from the lessons learned with SNIA’s Enterprise PTS to provide an unbiased means of comparing real-world performance between different SSDs in a lifelike working environment."

"Designers and users of client computers and consumer devices, such as individual personal computers and tablets, will benefit greatly by standards for real-world performance testing for SSDs," said Tom Coughlin, President of Coughlin Associates. "Ideally SSD manufacturers or reviewers will use these client PTS standards to help educate the public on useful relative comparisons between candidate storage devices."

"There are significant differences in the demand on storage devices between enterprise and single user environments. With the application of the SNIA Client PTS, the performance of those devices designed for personal applications may now be fairly evaluated and compared," said Chuck Paridon, Storage Performance Architect, Storage Works Division of HP.

"This Client PTS represents another significant effort by the SNIA to establish industry-wide standards for solid state storage performance testing. Calypso continues to support the SNIA and SSSI by implementing the Enterprise and Client PTS in industry-wide test of solid state storage devices for OEMs, vendors and customers," said Eden Kim, CEO of Calypso Systems, Inc.

Testing SSS Devices
When executed in a specific hardware/software environment, the SSS PTS provides performance metrics that can be fairly compared to other SSS products measured in the same manner in the same environment. A typical SSS device taken ‘fresh out of the box’ and exposed to a workload demonstrates a brief period of elevated performance, followed by a period of transition to a performance level called ‘Steady State’ which should be representative of the device’s performance during its working life. The SSS PTS prescribes preparation methodologies and defines Steady State so that performance measurements can be taken in the Steady State performance region.

The SSS PTS itself is test hardware and software agnostic. Individual testers can run the SSS PTS on their particular platform to compare the relative performance of SSS devices. However, in order for SSS PTS results to be compared on a true ‘apples-to-apples’ basis across multiple testers, a consistent test platform must be used. To solve this problem, the SSS PTS includes a Reference Test Platform (RTP) that describes the test hardware, software, and tools used by the SNIA SSS Technical Work Group (TWG) to perform the research and validate the specification. The RTP is not required to run the SSS PTS tests; it is merely an example of a platform that has been confirmed to meet the SSS PTS platform requirements.