What Does Linux Benchmarking Look Like?

What does benchmarking a Dell Inspiron Mini 9, a Radeon HD 4890 graphics card with Intel Core i7, and dual quad-core AMD Opterons look like? Well, if the systems are running Linux, BSD, OpenSolaris, or Mac OS X, it can look like this:

Do you see any of those systems out in the lemon grove? Nope. As was shared earlier this month, with Phoronix Test Suite 2.0 (a.k.a. "Sandtorg") and the introduction of Phoromatic and PTS Linux Live, we will seek to take computer benchmarking (primarily for Linux and the free software operating systems) to a whole new level. Heck, for the test administrator, the Linux benchmarking experience can look like this:

With Phoromatic, there are no geographical boundaries for where you can manage your testing. When tests are done, you can be notified by via e-mail or to your mobile device. I happen to be in Italy, but using the latest Phoronix Test Suite code and the Phoromatic management system that soon will be shared with the public, I am able to effectively manage tests of systems back in the office in the United States.

While some companies may already have conceived such systems in a highly proprietary environment, this is freely available and uses an open standard. Wherever you are located with an Internet connection, you will be able to easily and effectively run qualitative and quantitative tests in a clean, reproducible, and easy-to-use manner. It's already easy right now with the Phoronix Test Suite in hand, but there is a whole lot more coming down the pipeline.

For some of what is to come in just the next few months, read driving Linux-based benchmarking. Now it's off to carry out some "benchmarking" at the local winery. It's really that easy, so how will companies and open-source projects be able to resist looking more closely at their performance under Linux?