224 Host systems and Environments

THE SAS SYSTEM UNDER WINDOWS 3.0 AND OS/2 2.0

Wanda Thomas SAS Support Staff Bureau of the Census

ABSTRACT the benchmarks was an 80386/33 IBM clone with an 80387 math co-processor, 8 MB of RAM and a 728K disk WINDOWS 3.0 and OS/2 2.0 offer cache. The operating environments and SAS alternatives to running the SAS system on the PC had the following specifications: platform. , a DOS-based environment, features multitasking, virtual memory IBM OS/2 2.0 capabBities, and other enhancements to conventional OS/2'S version of the WiNDOWS environment DOS processing. OS/2 2.0, another operating Microsoft WINDOWS 3.0 system, can process DOS, WINDOWS, and OS/2 SAS 6.06 for OS/2 applications. OS/2 also offers some major SAS 6.07 Experimental Release for WINDOWS 3.0 technological breakthroughs for PC-based processing including 32-bit addressing and a flat memory model The benchmark programs listed below consisted of a that can provide users with more power and flexibility series of 12 DATA and PROC steps: than what is available under DOS. The SAS Support Staff conducted benchmarks on Base SAS software 1. DATA STEP - (Create 10,000 Records) that U1ustrate SAS performance under these environments. 2. PROC SORT -- (Sort Ail Records by 2 Variables) BACKGROUND 3. PROC FREQ .- (All Records) The ability of the SAS system to take advantage of the new technology proves to be a definite plus for the 4. PROC TABULATE - (All Records) SAS programmer. Because the DOS has inherent limitations (640K of conventional 5. PROC SUMMARY - (All Records) memory, unprotected mode processing, single­ tasking, and complicated concepts for using extended 6. PROC SUMMARY -- (With WHERE Statement) and/or expanded memory), running SAS programs under DOS can be a frustrating experience for power 7. DATA STEP EXTRACT - (With WHERE SAS users. Typically, the SAS system running under Statement) the traditional DOS operating system requires expanded memory to run memory-intensive SAS 8. DATA STEP EXTRACT - (With IF Statement) applications. Even in this case, only a few SAS executable files are moved into expanded memory, 9. DATA STEP EXTRACT - (With Compound freeing up more of to hold SAS WHERE Statement) data files and other executables. 10. PROC RANK - (All Records) THE BENCHMARKS 11. PROC TRANSPOSE - (One Variable, All Benchmarks were run under three environments: Records) WINDOWS 3.0, OS/2 2.0, and the WINDOWS environment within OS/2 2.0 (Note: From this point on 12. PROC UNIVARIATE - (Ten Variables, All any reference to OS/2 denotes version 2.0 of the Records) operating system.) The computer used to conduct

NESUG '92 Proceedings Host systems and Environments 225

The initial DATA step created a SAS data set of 10,000 observations with 110 variables of both numeric and character type. The subsequent DATA and PROC ~a step--Creat. Ail Re<:ord. steps processed data from this initial data set. The timings are recorded as total job completion time (wall ~======~------,--,,. time). The first graph (Figure 1) shows the completion times for executing all the programs in the ,. benchmark for each operating environment.

,,,. s,nc:hmark Summary--All steps - - '"'" Figure 2

,... Some of the individual job steps showed more drastic differences in processing times. One of these was a .... PROC SORT on the 10,000 observations on two variables (Figure 3). SAS running under DOS WINDOWS

Figure 1 Proc Sort on 2 Variables

As Figure 1 shows, the bottom bar (SAS 6.07 ~.-______-.mDm Experimental Release for WINDOWS 3.0 running under its native WINDOWS environment) lagged "/2 217 behind the WINDOWS environment under OS/2 running the same version of SAS by approximately 25 percent. (Note: The native WINDOWS environment runs on top of the DOS operating system.) SAS for -- ''''' WINDOWS under OS/2 completed the benchmark programs in 1600 seconds, which still traUs SAS 6.06 for the OS/2 operating system running under OS/2, by about 35 percent. Figure 3 The original benchmark plan was to include SAS running under the traditional DOS operating system. But, because of the memory limitations encountered completed the sort in 1233 seconds; OS/2's WINDOWS the entire benchmark programs could not be completed it in only 793 seconds, a fraction of the time it completed in this environment. Consequently, only took the other two environments. Generally, I/O the first step of the benchmarks (DATA STEP - Create operations showed marginal differences under all three 10,000 Records) was run separately and compared to environments; however, memory-intensive applications the other environments. Where the other such as a sort is where performance is substantially environments completed this step with relatively small increased. This gain in performance can be attributed to differences in completion time, traditional DOS took two of OS/2's most formidable features: a flat memory more than twice the time it took for the other three model and a 32-bit addressing scheme. Unlike DOS, or environments (Figure 2). WINDOWS, which are both designed around a segmented memory model, OS 12's flat memory technology eliminates

NESUG '92 Proceedings 226 Host Systems and Environments

the need for distinctions between conventional process. The OS/2 operating system takes up about 31 memory, , and expanded memory. MB of disk space and requires at least an 80386 com­ Instead, it sees the total memory installed on your PC puter. Base SAS for OS/2 uses approximately 14 MB of as one linear memory resource entity and makes it disk space. The WINDOWS environment takes up about available to your applications. This coupled with a 32- 6 MB of disk space and Base SAS for WINDOWS requires bit addressing scheme (DOS and WINDOWS use 16- approximately 23 MB. bit addressing) results in faster, more efficient execution of Instructions. Another PROC step that illustrates this scenario is the PROC SUMMARY using ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS a WHERE statement that selects 600 observations from the initial 10,000 (Figure 4). OS/2 2.0 is a registered trademark of IBM. WINDOWS 3.0 is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Base SAS is a registered trademark of SAS Institute, Cary, NC. Proc Summary using Whel'll! Stoteme'nt

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Figure 4

Here, SAS under OS/2 and OS/2'S WINDOWS environment completed the procedure in more than twice the time it took either of the other two environments.

CONCLUSION

The results of the benchmarks will hopefully provide a general comparison of SAS performance under three distinct environments and some direction as to which environment will offer power SAS users the resources needed to process larger-scale SAS applications on a desktop computer. Additional performance issues that could be Investigated are I/O performance benchmarks using OS/2's High Performance File System (HPFS), and the 32-bit version of the SAS system for OS/2 which Is designed to take full advantage of 32-bit data processing on the PC platform.

Space is another factor to consider in the selection

NESUG '92 Proceedings