# Install mbw with Homebrew, apt Memory Bandwidth Benchmark. Version 2.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:mbw ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install mbw ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install mbw ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: mbw from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:mbw - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 2.0 - **Source summary:** Memory Bandwidth Benchmark - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-3.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00 ## Executables - mbw (cli) - mbw (alias) ## Build dependencies - cmake ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, monterey, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 2.0 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/raas/mbw - Upstream latest detected: v2.0 (current) - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. ## Project history and usage MBW is a tiny command-line memory bandwidth benchmark. It measures the speed of memory copy and memory set operations, giving users a quick local sanity check for RAM throughput without a large benchmark suite. ### Project history The official repository describes MBW as a memory bandwidth benchmark and ships a manpage alongside the small C program. Its upstream history is sparse, with a compact tag series and a long-lived codebase whose copyright notices date back to the mid-2000s. ### Adoption history The input metadata lists Homebrew, Debian, and Ubuntu packages. That limited but real adoption fits the tool's scope: MBW is not a broad system profiler, but it is small enough and useful enough to keep available in package indexes. ### How it is used Users run mbw with an array size to compare memcpy, dumb copy, and memset style throughput. It is most useful as a quick baseline after hardware changes, virtualization changes, or low-level performance investigations. ### Why package nerds care MBW matters to package nerds as the kind of single-purpose benchmark that survives because it has almost no operational weight. It is easy to build, easy to audit, and easy to invoke when a larger benchmark suite would be overkill. ### Timeline - 2006: Early MBW copyright period begins in the upstream sources. - 2010s: The project accumulated small tagged releases in the public GitHub repository. - 2022: The v2.0 tag marked continued maintenance of the small benchmark. ### Related projects - Related benchmarking tools include lmbench, STREAM, sysbench, stress-ng, and Unix performance utilities used for quick hardware and virtual-machine checks. ### Sources - - - - source_facts.package-manager ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** mbw - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - mbw - 1.2.2-1.2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: mbw from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | memory bandwidth benchmark program | http://ahorvath.web.cern.ch/ahorvath/mbw/ - Ubuntu apt - mbw - 1.2.2-1.2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: mbw from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | memory bandwidth benchmark program | http://ahorvath.web.cern.ch/ahorvath/mbw/ ## Related links - [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Homebrew utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew-utility-packages/) - Matched Homebrew package provider. - [cmake](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cmake/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [fio](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fio/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: benchmark, benchmarking, cli, performance, system. - [sysbench](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/sysbench/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: benchmark, benchmarking, cli, performance, system. - [phoronix-test-suite](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/phoronix-test-suite/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: benchmarking, cli, performance, system. - [stress](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/stress/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: benchmarking, cli, memory, system. - [stress-ng](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/stress-ng/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: benchmarking, cli, memory, system. - [numactl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/numactl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, memory, performance, system. - [shmcat](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/shmcat/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, memory, system. - [vmtouch](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/vmtouch/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, memory, performance, system. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/mbw.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/mbw.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph