Energy benchmarks: a detailed analysis

In light of an increase in energy cost and energy consciousness industry standard organizations such as Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC), Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) and Storage Performance Council (SPC) as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have developed tests to measure energy consumption of computer systems. Although all of these consortia aim at standardizing power consumption measurement using benchmarks, ultimately aiming to reduce overall power consumption, and to aid in making purchase decisions, their methodologies differ slightly. For instance, some organizations developed specialized benchmarks while others added energy metrics to existing benchmarks. In this paper we give a comprehensive overview of the currently available energy benchmarks followed by an in depth analysis of their commonalities and differences.