readme1st-new.txt Document Title: readme1st.txt Subject: SPEC HPC2002 Readme First Last updated: 2002 08 10 wj+rl (To check for possible updates to this document, please see http://www.spec.org/hpg/hpc2002) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contents -------- Location of the documentation Suggested reading order List of documents Introduction to frequently asked questions Location of the documentation: ------------------------------ If you have not yet installed SPEC HPC2002, look on your CD in the directory docs/ or docs.nt\ -- for example, if your CD is mounted on /cdrom (Unix) or drive E: (NT), you would find most of the documents in: /cdrom/docs/ (Unix) or E:\docs.nt\ (NT) After you have installed SPEC HPC2002, you will also find the documentation in: $SPEC/docs/ (Unix) or %SPEC%\docs.nt\ (NT) Suggested reading order: ------------------------ If you are just getting started with SPEC HPC2002, here is a suggested reading order for the various documents supplied by SPEC: 1. readme1st.txt (the document you are reading now) 2. faq.txt 3. system_requirements.txt 4. install_guide.txt or install_guide_nt.txt 5. runrules.txt 6. runspec.txt 7. other documents as needed List of documents: The following documents are located in docs/ or docs.nt\ as described above under "Location of the documentation:" config.txt To make and run SPEC HPC2002, you need a config file. This document tells you how to write one. errata.txt Debugging and errata information. examples.txt A pointer to sample configuration files for each benchmark. faq.txt frequently asked questions and answers. install_guide.txt How to install SPEC HPC2002 on UNIX systems. Includes an example installation and an example of running the first benchmark. install_guide_nt.txt How to install SPEC HPC2002 on Windows/NT systems. Includes an example installation and an example of running the first benchmark. legal.txt Copyright notice and other legal information. makevars.txt Advanced users of the suite who want to understand exactly how the benchmarks are built can use this file to help decipher the process. readme1st.txt The document you are reading now, contains a documentation overview and question and answers regarding the purpose and intent of SPEC HPC2002. runrules.txt The SPEC HPC2002 Run and reporting rules. These must be followed for generating publicly disclosed results. runspec.txt Information on the "runspec" command, which is the primary user interface for running SPEC HPC2002 benchmarks. system_requirements.txt A list of the hardware and software needed in order to run the SPEC HPC2002 suite. techsupport.txt Information on SPEC technical support. tools_build.txt How to build (or re-build) the tools such as runspec utility.txt How to use various utilities, such as specinvoke and specdiff In addition, each individual benchmark in the suite has its own documents, found in the benchmark "docs" subdirectory. For example, the description of the benchmark 350.seis_s may be found in: $SPEC/benchspec/HPC2002/350.seis_s/docs/350.seis_s.txt (Unix) or %SPEC%\benchspec\HPC2002\350.seis_s\docs\350.seis_s.txt (NT) Only on the CD, you will find: original.src/README Information about freely-available sources that have been incorporated in SPEC HPC2002 ------------------------------------------------- Introduction to Frequently asked Questions (see faq.txt). ------------------------------------------------- * Overview of SPEC HPC2002 (What is it, and why does it exist?) * What is SPEC? * What is a benchmark? * Why use a benchmark? * What options are viable in this case? * What does SPEC HPC2002 measure? * Why use SPEC HPC2002? * What are the limitations of SPEC HPC2002? * What is included in the SPEC HPC2002 package? * What does the user of the SPEC HPC2002 suite have to provide? * What are the basic steps in running the benchmarks? * What source code is provided? What exactly makes up these suites? * Some of the benchmark names sound familiar; are these comparable to other programs? * What metrics can be measured? * Why doesn't HPC2002 have a "base" metric or a "peak" metric? * Which SPEC HPC2002 suite should be used to compare performance? * How do I contact SPEC for more information or for technical support? * Now that I've read this document, what should I do next? * How may I use these these benchmarks in my Research?