The Benchmark Book

Explains major benchmarks used in the computer industry, for nonspecialists, covering desktop benchmarks such as WinBench 96 and SysMarkWin, as well as benchmarks for UNIX workstations, servers, networks, transaction processing systems, and scientific applications. Discusses the advantages and drawbacks of synthetic and task-oriented benchmarks and when to use each, shows how to guard against benchmark manipulation by vendors, and tells how to use benchmarks to estimate LAN performance. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.