Benchmarking: Powerbench

Install prerequisite packages

Install the following packages:

yum install compat-gcc-34-g77 lapack lapack-devel

Download Powerbench

The Powerbench files can be obtained from:
http://it-div-procurements.web.cern.ch/it-div-procurements/Download/powerbench.tar.gz.

Download and extract the Powerbench software on the test system:

[root@TestNode powerbench]# wget http://it-div-procurements.web.cern.ch/it-div-procurements/Download/powerbench.tar.gz
[root@TestNode powerbench]# tar zxvf powerbench.tar.gz

Take initial idle readings

• Let the system idle for 5~10 minutes to allow power and thermals to stabilise
• Measure the power consumption every 30 seconds for 5 minutes
  • Measure Real Power (measured in Watts or W)
  • Measure Apparent Power (measured in Volt-Amps or VA)
• Calculate Power Factor for each reading by dividing the Real Power by the Apparent Power. This will be a number between 0 and 1, hopefully above 0.8.

Start Powerbench

Start Powerbench running by executing the powerbench.sh script and wait 10 minutes before taking any readings:

[root@TestNode powerbench]# sh powerbench.sh 
Detected Intel CPU.
8 cores detected.
Compiling benchmarks...
Running benchmarks...
Launching cpuburn
Launching lapack
Launching cpuburn
Launching lapack
Launching cpuburn
Launching lapack
Launching cpuburn
Launching lapack
Please wait 10 minutes for power consumption to stabilize...

Take loaded readings

Once the system has been running for 10 minutes, the script will prompt you to start taking readings:

 . . . . .
Launching cpuburn
Launching lapack
Launching cpuburn
Launching lapack
Please wait 10 minutes for power consumption to stabilize...
Start reading the power consumption now

• Measure the power consumption every 30 seconds for 5 minutes
  • Measure Real Power (measured in Watts or W)
  • Measure Apparent Power (measured in Volt-Amps or VA)
• Calculate Power Factor for each reading by dividing the Real Power by the Apparent Power. This will be a number between 0 and 1, hopefully above 0.95 for a modern PSU running near its maximum rating.

Kill Powerbench processes once completed

• Press CONTROL + C to exit the script
• Kill remaining processes:

[root@TestNode powerbench]# killall lapack