An HPC Benchmark Survey and Taxonomy for Characterization

Abstract: The field of High-Performance Computing (HPC) is defined by providing computing devices with highest performance for a variety of demanding scientific users. The tight co-design relationship between HPC providers and users propels the field forward, paired with technological improvements, achieving continuously higher performance and resource utilization. A key device for system architects, architecture researchers, and scientific users are benchmarks, allowing for well-defined assessment of hardware, software, and algorithms. Many benchmarks exist in the community, from individual niche benchmarks testing specific features, to large-scale benchmark suites for whole procurements. We survey the available HPC benchmarks, summarizing them in table form with key details and concise categorization, also through an interactive website. For categorization, we present a benchmark taxonomy for well-defined characterization of benchmarks.