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HammerDB — Database Benchmarking

Tool: HammerDB Status: Structure Ready

HammerDB benchmarks SQL Server performance on Azure Local VMs using industry-standard TPC-C (OLTP) and TPC-H (OLAP) workloads. It measures transactions per minute (TPM) and new orders per minute (NOPM).

Run This Test

Prerequisites

  • SQL Server instance deployed on an Azure Local VM
  • HammerDB installed on the management station or target VM
  • WinRM access to the target VM
  • Framework prerequisites completed

Step 1 — Install HammerDB on the target VM

.\tools\hammerdb\scripts\Install-HammerDB.ps1 `
    -ClusterName "hci01.corp.infiniteimprobability.com" `
    -Nodes @("hci01-node1")

Step 2 — Run the TPC-C benchmark

.\tools\hammerdb\scripts\Start-HammerDBTest.ps1 `
    -ClusterName "hci01.corp.infiniteimprobability.com" `
    -PrimaryNode "hci01-node1" `
    -Profile "tpc-c" `
    -Warehouses 100 `
    -VirtualUsers 16

Step 3 — Collect results

.\tools\hammerdb\scripts\Collect-HammerDBResults.ps1 `
    -ClusterName "hci01.corp.infiniteimprobability.com" `
    -PrimaryNode "hci01-node1" `
    -RunId "<run-id-from-previous-step>"

Step 4 — Stop the test (if needed)

.\tools\hammerdb\scripts\Stop-HammerDBTest.ps1 `
    -ClusterName "hci01.corp.infiniteimprobability.com" `
    -PrimaryNode "hci01-node1"

When to Use HammerDB

Scenario HammerDB
Validate SQL Server OLTP performance :white_check_mark:
TPC-C transaction benchmarking :white_check_mark:
TPC-H analytics query benchmarking :white_check_mark:
Combined storage + compute validation :white_check_mark:
Database sizing and capacity planning :white_check_mark:

Key Capabilities

  • TPC-C (TPROC-C) — OLTP transaction processing simulation
  • TPC-H (TPROC-H) — Decision support / analytics query workload
  • Supports SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, and more
  • GUI, CLI, and web interfaces for flexibility
  • Docker images available for reproducible CI/CD runs

What You Get

After a test completes, you will have:

  • NOPM (New Orders Per Minute) — the primary TPC-C metric
  • TPM (Transactions Per Minute) — total throughput
  • TPC-H query times for analytics workloads
  • Reports in PDF, DOCX, and/or XLSX format

File Locations

Component Path
Scripts tools/hammerdb/scripts/
Workload Profiles tools/hammerdb/config/profiles/
Alert Rules tools/hammerdb/monitoring/alert-rules.yml
Report Templates tools/hammerdb/reports/templates/
Tests tools/hammerdb/tests/
Logs tools/hammerdb/logs/

Deep Dive

Topic Page
Installation via PowerShell remoting Installation
TPC-C and TPC-H profile configuration Workload Profiles
Alert rules during test runs Monitoring
Report formats and templates Reporting
Common errors and fixes Troubleshooting

Automate This Test

To run HammerDB on a schedule or as part of a CI/CD workflow, see CI/CD Pipelines. The pipeline calls the same scripts listed above.