Simplifying the TPC Benchmark C, an OLTP Workload - Mark Wong - PGCon 2022

Simplify, test, and develop with the TPC Benchmark C using DBT2, a free, open-source kit, and Ansible playbooks to efficiently execute this challenging OLTP workload.

Key takeaways
  • The TPC Benchmark C is a traditional three-tier client-server model, simulating 65,000 terminals and warehouses.
  • The test needs to run for a minimum of 8 hours to satisfy the benchmark specification.
  • The TPC Benchmark C is a challenging workload to run, requiring significant resources and time.
  • The presentation focuses on testing and development, rather than competitive marketing.
  • The speaker is a major contributor to the Postgres community and has developed several benchmarking tools.
  • The TPC Benchmark C is designed to evaluate the performance and efficiency of database systems.
  • The test requires emulating a large number of terminals and warehouses, generating hundreds of terabytes of data.
  • The speaker has developed a kit called DBT2, which can simplify the execution of the TPC Benchmark C.
  • DBT2 took about 35 minutes to generate a 100GB database, while HammerDB took about 270 minutes.
  • The TPC Benchmark C requires significant hardware resources, including 128 cores and at least 40 cores for the transaction manager.
  • The speaker recommends using DBT2, which provides a more comprehensive kit for executing the TPC Benchmark C.
  • The presentation shows screenshots of the DBT2 kit in action, including charts and graphs of the test results.
  • The speaker also recommends using Ansible playbooks provided by EDB to simplify the execution of the test.
  • The test can be used to evaluate the performance and efficiency of hardware and software, as well as to test high availability and durability.
  • The presentation concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding the TPC Benchmark C and its components.