Not just correct, but correct and fast: a look at one of Jim Gray's contributions to database system performance

This paper examines Jim Gray's role in the specification of the debit/credit benchmark. The publication of this benchmark in a 1985 paper launched a benchmark war among the vendors that resulted in dramatic improvements in database system performance in the years following its publication. It was the genesis of the TPC, an industry consortium which has reshaped the benchmark landscape. Descendents of this benchmark continue to this day to be an important metric of modern transaction processing systems.