Sap Business One Setup Sizing

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SAP Business One Best Practice System Setup and Sizing Version 1.0 – December 2007

SAP Business One Best Practice System Setup and Sizing

© SAP AG 2007 2

(c) 2007 by SAP AG

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Contents Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................................................4 Overview and terminology ............................................................................................................................................................4

Performance ......................................................................................................................................................................................4

Availability..........................................................................................................................................................................................5 Data safety and security ...............................................................................................................................................................5 Servers ................................................................................................................................................................................................5 Clients .................................................................................................................................................................................................6 Network and system landscape .................................................................................................................................................6

Factors affecting System Setup and Sizing.........................................................................................................................9

Number of users ..............................................................................................................................................................................9 Modules implemented....................................................................................................................................................................9 Transaction volume........................................................................................................................................................................9

Number and type of add-ons .................................................................................................................................................... 11 Concurrent applications ............................................................................................................................................................. 12

Recommendations ......................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Server ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Client................................................................................................................................................................................................. 14

Case Studies.................................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Hewlett-Packard ........................................................................................................................................................................... 15 IBM.................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Summary............................................................................................................................................................................................ 20 Appendix............................................................................................................................................................................................ 21

Appendix 1 – Supported platforms......................................................................................................................................... 21 Appendix 2 – Sizing guide ......................................................................................................................................................... 21 Appendix 3 – Performance tuning.......................................................................................................................................... 21


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Introduction One of the initial steps during the installation and implementation of SAP Business One is the definition of the system landscape and architecture that will be in place to run SAP Business One.

SAP Business One™ is a single, affordable, and easy-to-implement solution that integrates the entire business across financials, sales, customers, and operations. With SAP Business One, small businesses can streamline their operations, get instant and complete information, and accelerate profitable growth. SAP Business One is designed for companies with less than 100 employees, less than $75 million in annual revenue, and between 1 and 30 system users, referred to as the SAP Business One “sweet spot.” The sweet spot covers various industries and microverticals which have different requirements when it comes to the use of SAP Business One.

SAP offers a variety of other products for customers outside the range of the sweet spot, such as:

• SAP Business ByDesign™

A complete and adaptable on-demand business solution designed to unify and streamline core business operations in midsize companies. SAP Business ByDesign is most applicable for companies that need an integrated solution without requiring deep, industry-specific functionality, extensibility, or customizability.

• SAP Business All -in-One™

A proven on-premise business solution for midsize companies. SAP Business All -in-One leverages the breadth of the SAP ERP application to enable midsize companies to integrate their business processes. By providing full visibility into business operations, SAP Business All-in-One allows companies to make faster and better decisions to facilitate growth. SAP Business All-in-One is also a flexible solution that is highly configurable and extensible to meet changing business needs, providing the ability to modify code as needed. Leveraging SAP Best Practices offerings, SAP Business All-in-One solutions provide deep industry functionality that streamlines business processes from end to end, creating a lean, cost-effective operation that meets the demands of a growing and evolving business.

Numerous factors affect the system landscape that needs to be created to efficiently run SAP Business One. This document discusses these factors and provides recommendations on how to size and configure the system landscape and architecture for SAP Business One based on best practices. While most information is release independent, the data provided is based on SAP Business One 2007.

Overview and terminology Customers expect SAP Business One to run smoothly and without interruptions. This means that they are looking for good performance, data loss prevention, and continuous system availability. As a result, servers, clients, and the network have to be set up and configured accordingly.

Performance In software engineering, performance determines how fast some aspects of a system perform under a particular workload. It can also define other quality attributes of the system, such as scalability and reliability.

Performance testing is performed to verify performance criteria. It can serve different purposes. It can demonstrate that the system meets performance criteria. It can compare two systems to find out which performs better. Finally, it can measure what parts of the system or workload cause the system to perform badly. In the diagnostic case, software engineers use tools such as profilers to measure what parts of a device or software contribute most to poor performance or to establish throughp ut levels (and thresholds) for maintained acceptable response time.

It is critical to the cost performance of a new system that performance test efforts begin very early during the implementation and extend through to deployment. The later a performance defect is detected, the higher


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the cost of remediation. This is true in the case of functional testing, but even more so with performance testing, because of the end-to-end nature of its scope.

Availability Availability refers to the ability of the user community to access the system, whether to submit new work, update or alter existing work, or collect the results of previous work. If a user cannot access the system, it is said to be unavailable. The term “downtime” is used to refer to periods when a system is unavailable.

Availability is usually expressed as a percentage of uptime in a given year. In a given year, the minutes of unplanned downtime are tallied for a system; the aggregate unplanned downtime is divided by the total number of minutes in a year (approximately 525,600), producing a percentage of downtime; the complement is the percentage of uptime, which is what is typically referred to as the availability of the system.

Data safety and security Data safety as a concept optimizes system safety in the design, development, use, and maintenance of software systems and their integration with safety-critical hardware systems in an operational environment.

In the past, industry in general considered increased productivity as the most important aspect of software engineering. Little consideration was given concerning the reliability or safety of the software product. In recent years, the role of the software and hardware has become the command and control of complex and costly systems upon which human lives may depend. Data safety addresses the minimization or even elimination of the risk of data loss and unplanned data manipulation. For more information, see the section, “Data safety” under “Network and sys tem landscape” for more information.

Servers The most important component of the SAP Business One system landscape is the server that hosts the SAP Business One application and database. Depending on the size of the implementation, it is possible to have both the application server and the database server running on the same machine. Alternatively, you can have one computer hosting the SAP Business One application and another PC hosting the database server. The distributio n over several PCs is done in a larger scale environment. For more information, see the section, “Recommendations ”.

When selecting the PC that is to be used as a server, the following specifications need to be considered:

• Processor

The processor or CPU is the component of the computer that executes programs. It interprets program instructions and processes data. The main criterion to describe the power of a processor is the clock rate, which describes the speed of the processor and is measured by frequency in hertz. Most processors have a frequency of at least 1 GHz. Standard processors have only one core, whereas newer dual-core processors combine two cores into a single package. Dual-core processors are capable of processing programs or code in parallel and are therefore considered to be faster. SAP Business One can be run on single- and dual-core processors.

• Memory

Memory or RAM accesses stored data in any order, that is, at random, without the physical movement of the storage medium. Using RAM in order to process data is generally faster than physical storage mechanisms, such as tape or disks, because no physical movement of the data takes place. RAM is used as the main memory, that is, the working area for loading, displaying, and manipulating applications and data. RAM size is measured in bytes. The greater the RAM amount, the more data that can be processed, which allows for faster computer reponse times.


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• Hard drive

The hard disk or hard drive is used for long-term storage of digitally encoded data. Unlike memory, the data is not lost when the computer is switched off. Hard drives are defined by capacity and access speed. Capacity is measured in bytes. Currently, most hard drives have a capacity of at least several gigabytes (GB). Similarly to the processor, access speed is measured by the bus type in hertz. SAP Business One needs the hard drive to store the installation of the application as well as to store data in the database.

• Operating system

The operating system manages the sharing of the computer resources. SAP Business One supports the use of several Microsoft Windows operating systems. A list of supported platforms can be found in the appendix. The use of 32-bit or 64 -bit processors also has an impact on the choice of operating systems.

Clients Client PCs are used by individual users in order to access SAP Business One. Client PCs need to take into account similar specifications as servers, but do not have to be as powerful as servers.

Network and system landscape SAP Business One is installed in a client-server environment . In a client-server architecture, the client and server are separate and generally implemented on a computer network. Clients and servers connected to a network are often referred to as nodes. In the most basic type of client-server architecture, only two node types are used:

• Clients

• Servers

This type of environment is usually referred to as two-tier architecture. It allows devices to share files and resources.

Some system architectures are more sophisticated and employ three node types:

• Clients

• Application servers – Process data for the clients

• Database servers – Store data for the application servers

This type of environment is called three-tier architecture, and is the most commonly used type of client-server architecture. Designs with more than two tiers are referred to as multitiered or n-tiered.

Image 1: Three-tier client-server architecture


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Multitiered architecture is far more scalable, since it balances and distributes the processing load among multiple, often redundant, specialized server nodes. This has a positive effect on overall system performance and reliability, because more of the processing load can be accommodated simultaneously

Network Many small and mid-sized companies operate branch offices and have employees who travel or work from home. These remote and mobile users need the same fast, dependable access to the ERP system as their colleagues at headquarters, even if they are connecting via dial -up modems, wireless cards, or the Web. The Citrix® MetaFrame® Access Suite from Citrix Systems, Inc. allows customers to provide easy, reliable, high-performance access to SAP Business One for all users, regardless of their location, type of computer, or connection. By implementing SAP Business One using Citrix access infrastructure software, smaller businesses benefit from greater accessibility across the organization.

The Citrix MetaFrame Access Suite enables an application such as SAP Business One to be installed, processed, maintained, and supported on central servers instead of on each user’s computer. Connecting to a Citrix server over the network, users view and work with the application interface, sending keystrokes and mouse clicks and receiving screen refres hes. With this approach, a user can choose any computer regardless of its age, capabilities, or operating system, because the application is running on the server, not on the local device. For the same reason, the type of connection does not affect application performance; with only minimal data traveling between the server and the client computer, users enjoy consistently high performance even over dial-up or wireless connections.

The typical system architecture runs a set of Citrix Presentation Servers (CPS) at the data center. The servers are organized as a “farm” which manages resource assignment and loadbalancing. Everything can be centrally managed from one console. For the typical SAP Business One system only a single machine is needed for the CPS. Note that this would have a single point of failure. Please see image below for a graphic of the standard architecture of SAP Business One with a CPS.

Image 2: SAP Business One with Citrix Presentation Server

Recommended specifications for the CPS server in a standard SAP Business One environment with about 10–30 users are shown in the table below.

Component Best-Practice Recommendation

Processor 2 x Intel Pentium D/Xeon, 2 GHz/ 1 MB

Hard disk 40 GB

Memory 4 GB

Table 1: Sizing recommendations for Citrix Presentation Server


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Additional information can be found at:

http://www.citrix.com/English/partners/partnerFeature.asp?partnerID=14785&featureID=14805

Data safety Another issue related to network and system landscape is data safety and availability. This is primarily addressed by data backup strategies that allow for the duplication of system data, which, in case of loss of primary data, can either immediately replace data without system downtime, called “hot swap,” or restore lost data at a later point in time.

Two technologies are commonly used. The first is Redundant Array of Independent Disks technology ( R AID). The second is traditional tape drive backup, where the data is backed up onto tape drives at regular intervals.

RAID

The term Redundant Array of Independent Drives (or Disks), also known as Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives (or Disks), (RAID ) is used to describe computer data storage technology that divides and/or replicates data among multiple hard drives . RAID technology is often used to provide increased data reliability and/or increased input/output performance.

A number of standard systems have evolved, which are referred to as levels. Five RAID levels were initially conceived, but several variations have evolved, notably several nested levels and many non-standard levels (mostly proprietary).

In a RAID system, physical hard disks are combined into a single logical unit by using special software or hardware. Software solutions are typically implemented at the operating system level and present the RAID drive as a single drive to any application. Hardware solutions are also designed to present themselves to the attached system as a single hard drive, but the operating system is unaware of the software details.

Key hardware vendors suggest two types of RAID levels for SAP Business One, mostly depending on system size.

RAID 1 creates an exact copy (or mirror) of a set of data on two or more disks. This is useful when read performance or reliability are more important than data storage capacity. Such an array can only be as big as the smallest member disk. A classic RAID 1 mirrored pair contains two disks, which increases reliability geometrically over a single disk. Since each member contains a complete copy of the data, and can be addressed independently, ordinary wear -and-tear reliability is raised by the power of the number of self-contained copies.

RAID 5 uses block-level striping with parity data distributed across all member disks. RAID 5 has achieved popularity due to its low cost of redundancy. Generally, RAID 5 is implemented with hardware support for parity calculations. A minimum of 3 disks is generally required for a complete RAID 5 configuration. A RAID 5 two-disk set is possible, but many implementations do not allow for this. In some implementations a degraded disk set can be made (3-disk set of which 2 are online).

Due to the significantly more complex installation of RAID 5, most SAP Business One implementation using R AID technology will use RAID 1.

Tape drives Tape drives are data storage devices that read and write data stored on a magnetic tape. They are typically used for storage of archived data saved on hard drives. Compared to hard disks, tape media generally has a favorable unit cost and long archival stability.

Tape drives only allow for sequential-access of data, instead of allowing random -access as hard disk drives do, Hard disk drives can move their read/write heads to any random part of the disk platters in a very short amount of time. Tape drives on the other hand must spend a considerable amount of time winding tape between reels to access a particular piece of data. As a result, tape drives can have a significantly slower seek time, but, despite that, can stream data to tape very quickly. Modern LTO drives can deliver continuous data transfer rates of up to 80 MB/s, which is as fast as most 10,000 RPM hard disks.


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Factors affecting system setup and sizing This section discusses the various factors identified to have a significant impact on the SAP Business One system landscape specifications described in the previous section.

Number of users The number of users accessing the SAP Business One server at one time, that is,. concurrent users, has a significant effect on the specifications of the SAP Business One application and database server. It does not affect the client setup.

Best-practice experience suggests that, for a standard SAP Business One system with no add-ons, a basic level of memory is necessary. This memory is about 1 GB. For each expected concurrent user, the memory should be increased by 100 MB.

Similar logic can be suggested for processors with a base level of one Intel Pentium D or Xeon with a clockrate of about 2 to 3 GHz for up to 20 users and an additional processor for each additional 20 users that will be using the system.

Hard disk space is not directly affected by the number of users, but more by the number of transactions and the data volume that are generated. However, as a best-practice, it is recommended to have at least 2 GB of disk space for the application plus 10 GB of disk space in the database for each 10 users. This applies to systems with only SAP Business One and no RAID support.

Modules implemented The number and type of SAP Business One modules used in an implementation will have a significant impact on system requirements. The following modules are relevant:

• Financials

• Sales opportunities

• Sales – A/R

• Purchasing – A/P

• Business Partners

• Inventory

• Banking

• Production

• MRP

• Service

• Human Resources

Note that all of the above modules are installed during the standard SAP Business One installation routine. System performance is affected when only certain modules are actively used. This standard system can be run with the system configuration described in the previous section “Number of users”.

Transaction volume Transaction volume refers to the number of transactions that will be posted in SAP Business One during a specific period of time. The transaction volume effect on RAM and processor is mostly determined by the number of concurrent users and discussed in the corresponding section. The effect on hard disk space needed, i.e. database size and growth, will be discussed in this section.


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A SAP Business One database which only includes system configuration and no postings or master data has a size of about 40 to 50 MB. In order to determine the transaction volume effect on the size of the database, we have analyzed key transactions that are generally posted in SAP Business One. The following table lists the key transactions with size approximations in KB.

SAP Business One Module Document Type

Size (KB) Header

Size (KB) Item

Size (KB) Document 5 Items

Size (KB) Document 10 Items

Purchasing – A/P Purchase Order 2.75 3.36 19.54 36.32

Goods Receipt PO 2.75 3.24 18.96 35.16

AP Invoice 3.05 1.74 11.74 20.44

Outgoing Payment 1.44 N/A 1.44 1.44

Sales – A/R Sales Opportunity 0.76 9.13 46.39 92.03

Sales Order 2.17 3.40 19.19 36.20

Delivery 2.91 3.73 21.58 40.24

AR Invoice 2.78 3.35 19.52 36.26

Incoming Payment 1.44 N/A 1.44 1.44

Production Production Order 1.14 0.24 2.32 3.50

Service Service Call 1.10 N/A 1.10 1.10

Service Contract 0.82 0.20 1.82 2.82

Customer Equipment Card 1.00 N/A 1.00 1.00

Financials Journal Entry 0.29 0.54 3.00 5.71

Master Data Item Master 2.11 N/A 2.11 2.11

BP Master 3.32 N/A 3.32 3.32

Table 2: Disk space required by key SAP Business One docum ent types

Note:

1) Please note that the above are size approximations. Size estimates for header and items include only data tables. Index tables are not included in the size estimates. Note that the space required by the index does not increase with each additional document posted, but reserves space in the database to accommodate a batch of documents. On average, an index table will require about 100 KB per 100 records it needs to store, but varies significantly by document type.

2) The above table includes the most frequently used SAP Business One documents types and, hence, the generally largest volume share of data in the SAP Business One database. While both inbound and outbound transactions have been considered for each module, some, i.e. reversal transacti ons, have not been listed. For the sake of database growth estimates, it can be assumed that a document type’s reversing transaction has about the same size as the initial transaction itself. For example, a credit memo has about the same size as an invoice.

3) In order to estimate database growth, estimate the number of transactions per time period with an average line item number and multiply with the corresponding KB value in the table above. When performing long term projections, consider transaction volume growth rates.

Example: A company estimates that it will process about 50 sales orders with an average of 5 items each business day. Sales are projected to grow by 25% year over year. How much space will be needed in the database for sales orders for the first five years after the implementation of SAP Business One?


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Using the above table, the average sales order will be about 19.19 KB in size. This results in 959 KB per day and 234 MB per year (1.19 MB times 5 business days times 50 business weeks). Growing at 25% per year, the space needed for sales orders will be 1.875 GB for the first five years. The size of the index tables can be estimated at 100 MB with 102,587 records.

It is recommended to estimate hard disk space conservatively and to consider backup strategies implemented. As long as no data archiving functionality has been implemented, data need to be available at least for the legally required amount of time, i.e. 7 years for financial documents in the US.

For more information on sizing estimates, please consult the best-practice system setup and sizing landing page in the Channel Partner Portal.

Number and type of add-ons There are two groups of add -ons that apply here. First, there are SAP add-ons that can either be part of the SAP Business One standard installation, such as XL Reporter (as of version 2007 A), whose use is optional as they can be activated and deactivated. Secondly, there are SAP add-ons that have to be explicitely installated and activated in order to be used, such as MS Outlook Integration. In addition, ISV add-ons require additional memory and hard disk space. Please refer to the ISV solution guide for the corresponding add-on for sizing and setup information.

In general, add-ons require additional memory and disk space in orde r to function properly. Most add-ons are installed on client machines and therefore do not have significant impact on the server.

Disk space

SAP Business One add-ons require between 25 and 75MB of additional disk space for the installation of the add-on on the client machine. The disk space on the server machine is impacted insofar as that the transaction volume and the resulting data volume generated by the add -on need to be taken into consideration (see also chapter “Transaction volume”).

Memory Memory requirements of the add-on can be significant depending on the add-on. Please find a list of frequently used add -ons with estimated memory requirements below. The memory requirements apply to server and/or client machine depending on the type of installation required.

Add-On Products - SAP RAM required

ALD 120 MB

BCSets 70 MB

Format Definition 80 MB

Copy Express 90 MB

Datev (DE only) 110 MB

Elster (DE only) 70 MB

Fixed Assets 300 MB

Intrasat 200 MB

Outlook Integration 100 MB

Payment Engine 90 MB

Stampit 110 MB

Support Tools 80 MB


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XL Reporter (not an add-on, but integral part of core product) 220 MB

Table 3: Memory requirements by add-on

Concurrent applications Concurrent applications refer to applications that are installed and actively running on the same computer as the SAP Business One server or database. The same is true for clients. Concurrent applications share processing power, memory, and hard disk space with the SAP Business One applications and thereby have an adverse effect on system performance.

While it is recommended to minimize the number of concurrent applications on all systems, it is clear that some applications have to be installed.

Servers As previously mentioned, there are generally two possible setups for servers in a sta ndard SAP Business One environment. While it is possible to have two separate servers for the SAP Business One application and the database, all configuration examples and recommendations in this document suggest a different, simpler configuration by having the application and the database server installed on the same computer. As a result, the SAP Business One and the database application run as concurrent applications on the server. In some case, separate hard disks are suggested for the application and the database.

In a one server scenario, the average system resource usage (usage of memory and processing power) of SAP Business One and the database is between 50% and 60%. This means that concurrent applications running on the same server must not use more than a maximum 40% of the system resources available. However, in order to assure acceptable system performance, it is recommended to minimize the installation of concurrent applications. Their combined system resource usage should not exceed 20% to 30% to avoid significant slowdowns during peak system usage.

Best-practices suggest to only install networking, system backup, and system security software on the server. Jobs to backup and scan the system generally use a significant portion of system resources and should be scheduled at off-peak times, i.e. during night hours.

SAP Business One Web Tools Server Offerings include SAP Business One E-Commerce and SAP Business One Web CRM User capabilities. If Web Tools (e-Commerce and online CRM) is to be used in conjunction with SAP Business One, it is not suggested to install and run all Webtools components, i.e. the database server, the sync manager, and the application itself on the same server as SAP Business One. Installing all Web Tools components on a separate server has the benefit of significantly better system performance. In addition, system availabity is higher as WebTools can continue running even when the SAP Business One server is stopped for maintenance.

SAP Business One e-Commerce and online CRM should be installed on a server with the following specifications:

Server 1 x Intel Pentium D/Xeon, 2 GHz/ 1 MB

Memory 1 GB

Hard disk 10 GB HDD

Table 4: Memory requirements by add-on

Clients

Clients generally need more concurrent applications, since most users do no solely run SAP Business One on their workstation. In some instance, such as XLReporter, the add-on requires additional applications to be installed. Best-practices suggest that the following applications can be installed and run on a client PC configured according to the recommendations in this guide without significant performance impact.


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• Microsoft® Internet Explorer

• Microsoft® Word

• Microsoft® Excel

• Microsoft® Outlook

• Microsoft® Powerpoint

Please consult software specifications with regards to memory and hard disk space requirements of applications you wish to install on a client PC to determine system performance effects.


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Recommendations The following section gives best-practice recommendations for the setup of servers, clients, and networks. The estimates are given for a standard SAP Business One system using all modules, but no add-ons in a non-hosted environment.

Server The following server setup is recommended as a starting point for SAP Business One.


Processor • 1-10 Users: 1 x Intel Pentium D/Xeon, 2 GHz/ 1 MB • 11-20 Users: 1 to 2 x Intel Pentium D/Xeon, 2 - 3 GHz/ 2 MB • 21-30 Users: 2 to 4 x Intel Xeon, 3 GHz/ 2 MB

Hard disk • 1-10 Users: 2 GB for application and 10 GB for database • 11-20 Users: 2 GB for application and 20 GB for database • 21-30 Users: 2 GB for application and 30 GB for database

Memory • 1-10 Users: 1 -2 GB • 11-20 Users: 2-3 GB • 21-30 Users: 3-4 GB

Drive CD/DVD ROM

Display 1024 x 768 with 24Bit color

R AID Support R AID-1 (Mirrored). This will require that there be an additional hard disk of equal size to the main disk for full system backup.

Table 5: Recommendations for server setup

Client The following client setup is recommended as a starting point for SAP Business One.


Processor Intel Pentium 4, 2 GHz (or equivalent)

Hard disk 1 GB of free hard disk space

Memory 1 GB

Drive 24x CD ROM

Display 1024 x 768 with 24Bit color

Table 6: Recommendations for client setup


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Case Studies The following section describes real-live examples of system configurations as suggested by SAP partners. The cases include “average” systems with 10 to 20 users, which addresses a large majority of currently installed SAP Business One systems.

Please note that the case studies below are examples provided by two hardware providers. There are other hardware providers offering systems for SAP Business One. Please review the SAP PartnerEdge P2P Network How-to Guide in order to find out how to search for partners (login required).

Direct link: http://service.sap.com/~sapidb/011000358700000888802007E.pdf.

Hewlett-Packard This section includes recommendations from Hewlett-Packard (HP) for two types of SAP Business One systems. First, there are “small” systems with 10 to 20 users. Then, there are “large systems” with over 20 users.

1 to 20 users – Small solution with RAID 1

The following is a setup for a SAP Business One server suggested by Hewlett-Packard (HP). It is considered a “small” system for 1 to 20 users. However, the setup includes the integration of RAID 1 data security.

Server ProLiant ML370G4 Tower; 1 * Xeon DP 3.2 GHz / 1 MB

Memory 2 GB

Hard disk 2 x 36,4 GB RAID 1 intern OP-System, SAP- u. DbExe, Page File and Logs

2 x 72,8 GB RAID 1 intern SAP Data

Quantity Description

1 ML370 Server with 1x 3.2 GHz Xeon CPU, 2 GB SDRAM PC2-3200, 1 MB Cache

1 2 GB PC2-3200 ECC DDR2-400 SDRAM DIMM (2x 1 GB)

1 16x DVD -ROM Drive

1 HP Smart Array 642 Controller (2 Channel, 64 MB Cache)

2 36.4 GB Ultra320 SCSI Universal HD (15.000 RPM)


1 HP StorageWorks DLT VS80i internal drive

Table 7: Recommendations for small server by HP

HP suggests the following client configuration for SAP Business One.


1 HP Compaq dc5100 SFF Intel Pentium 4 530, 3.0Ghz, i915GV


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2 512MB PC2-4200 (DDR2-533) DIMM

1 80GB/7200/SATA HDD

1 D VD/CD-RW XPP

1 MS Windows XP

Table 8: Recommendations for client by HP

Over 20 users – Large solution with RAID 1

The following is a setup for a SAP Business One server suggested by Hewlett-Packard (HP). It is considered a “medium to large” system for more than 20 users. The setup includes the integration of RAID 1 data security.

Server ProLiant ML370G3 Tower; 2 * Xeon DP 3.2 GHz / 2 MB

Memory 4 GB

Hard disk

2 x 36.4 GB RAID 1 intern OP-System, SAP - u. DbExe, Page File

2 x 36.4 GB RAID 1 intern Logs

2 x 72.8 GB RAID 1 intern SAP Data


1 ML370 Server with 1x 3.2 GHz Xeon CPU, 1 GB SDRAM PC2-3200, 2 MB Cache

1 HP ProLiant Intel Xeon DP 3.2 GHz, 2 MB Cache, 800 MHz FSB

1 2 GB PC2-3200 ECC DDR2-400 SDRAM DIMM (2x 1 GB)

1 1 GB PC2-3200 ECC DDR2-400 SDRAM DIMM (2x 512 MB)

1 HP Smart Array 6402/128 Controller (Ultra 320, 2 Channel, 128 MB Cache)



1 HP NC7170 Dual Port PCI-X 1000T Gigabit Server Adapter

1 HP StorageWorks DLT VS80i internal drive

1 HP Hot Plug backup cooler

1 HP Hot Plug backup power unit

1 16x DVD -ROM Drive

Table 9: Recommendations for “medium to large” server by HP

HP suggests the following client configuration for SAP Business One.


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1 HP Compaq dc5100 SFF Intel Pentium 4 530, 3.0Ghz, i915GV

2 512MB PC2-4200 (DDR2-533) DIMM

1 80GB/7200/SATA HDD

1 DVD/CD-RW XPP

1 MS Windows XP

Table 10: Recommendations for client by HP

IBM In the following section, two cases with recommendations by IBM are described. First, we list the SAP Business One system setup suggested by IBM for a system with 1 to 15 users and DDS tape drive data security. Then, we provided IBM’s recommendatio ns for a larger system with over 15 users. Additional information on IBM systems can be found at http://www.developer.ibm.com/servers/sizing/portal/results.jsp.

1 to 15 Users – “Immediate” and “Growth” solution with DDS tape drive

In the following case, we list the SAP Business One system setup suggested by IBM for a system with 1 to 15 users and a DDS tape drive data security as “Immediate solution” .

Server IBM x3200-4362/22x

Memory 1.5 GB

Hard disk 30 GB


1 IBM x3200-4362/22x Server with 1x 2.8 GHz Pentium D CPU, 1.5 GB DDR, 1 MB L2

3 512 MB PC2-4200 ECC DDR2 SDRAM DIMM

2 30 GB S -AT A Hot-swap Gb/3 HDD (15,000 RPM)

1 IBM Ultra 320 SCSI Controller 2

1 IBM 36/72 GB DDS Gen5 Internal Tape Drive – SCSI

1 MS Windows Server 2003

Table 11: Recommendations for small “immediate” solution by IBM

Note that the above is IBM’s suggested “Immediate Solution” . There is an alternative “Growth Solution” with the following specifications. The “Growth Solution” assumes a 50% growth in workload.

Server IBM x3200-4362/42x

Memory 2 GB

Hard disk 80 GB


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1 IBM x3200-4362/42x Server with 1x 1.87 GHz Xeon DC CPU, 2 GB DDR, 2 MB L2

4 512 MB PC2-4200 ECC DDR2 SDRAM DIMM

2 80 GB S -ATA Hot-swap Gb/3 HDD (15,000 RPM)


1 IBM 36/72 GB DDS Gen5 Internal Tape Drive - SCSI


Table 12: Recommendations for small “growth” solution by IBM

IBM suggests the following client workstation for both solutions.


1 IBM Intellistation M Pro 6218 with Intel Pentium 4 EM64T 3.0 GHz/300 MHz, 2MB L2

2 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM DIMM

1 80 GB 7.2k S-ATA

1 DVD/CD-RW 48x-32x-16x

1 NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280

1 MS Windows XP Professional Preloaded

Table 13: Recommendations for client by IBM

Over 15 Users – “Immediate” and “Growth” solution with DDS tape drive In the following case, we list the SAP Business One system setup suggested by IBM for a system with over 15 users and RAID 1 or DDS tape drive data security as “Immediate solution” .

Server IBM x3400-7975/C4x

Memory 4 GB

Hard disk 30 GB (2 x 30 GB with RAID 1)


1 IBM x3400-7975/C4x Server with 1 x 1.8 GHz Xeon QC CPU, 4 GB DDR, 8 MB L2

4 1 GB PC2-5300 ECC DDR2 CL5 SDRAM DIMM

2 30 GB SATA Hot-swap Gb/3 HDD (15,000 RPM)



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1 IBM 36/72 GB DDS Gen5 Internal Tape Drive – SCSI (if tape backup)


Table 14: Recommendations for large “immediate” solution by IBM

Note that the above is IBM’s suggested “Immediate Solution” . There is an alternative “Growth Solution” with the following specifications. The “Growth Solution” assumes a 50% growth in workload

Server IBM x3400-7975/C4x

Memory 6 GB

Hard disk 80 GB (2 x 80 GB with RAID 1)


1 IBM x3400-7975/C4x Server with 1 x 1.8 GHz Xeon QC CPU, 4 GB DDR, 8 MB L2

3 2 GB PC2-5300 ECC DDR2 CL5 SDRAM DIMM

2 80 GB SATA Hot-swap Gb/3 HDD (15,000 RPM)


1 IBM 36/72 GB DDS Gen5 Internal Tape Drive – SCSI (if tape backup)


Table 15: Recommendations for large “growth” solution by IBM

IBM suggests the following client workstation for both solutions.


1 IBM Intellistation M Pro 6218 with Intel Pentium 4 EM64T 3.0 GHz/300 MHz, 2MB L2

2 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM DIMM

1 80 GB 7.2k S-ATA

1 DVD/CD-RW 48x-32x-16x

1 NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280

1 MS Windows XP Professional Preloaded

Table 16: Recommendations for client by IBM


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Summary The objective of the “SAP Business One Best-Practice System Setup and Sizing” document is to provide SAP Business One implementation partners with guidanc e on how to best setup and configure the system landscape for an SAP Business One implementation.

Additional information can be found in the SAP Channel Partner Portal. For more information, please go to http://channel.sap.com or contact your local channel manager.


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Appendix The appendix includes additional information.

Appendix 1 – Supported platforms This section lists supported operating system platforms for servers and clients.

Server Platforms

Microsoft® Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard/Enterprise 32bit

Microsoft® Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Standard/Premium Edition

Microsoft® Windows Server 2003 SP1 Standard/Enterprise 32bit/64bit

Microsoft® Windows Small Business Server 2003 SP1 Standard/Premium Edition

Microsoft® Windows XP SP2 Professional Edition 32bit

Note: For standalone installations only.

Workstation Platforms

Microsoft® Windows XP SP2 Professional 32Bit

Desktop Platforms

Microsoft® Office 2007 Standard & Professional

Microsoft® Offi ce 2003 SP1 Standard & Professional

Microsoft® Office XP SP2 Professional

Table 17: Supported platforms

Please check the Supported Platform Matrix on the SAP Channel Partner Portal in regular intervals as this overview is being updated as needed (login required):

Direct link: http://channel.sap.com/sbo/platforms

Appendix 2 – Sizing guide The SAP Business One Sizing Guide with official SAP sizing information is available per release version and can be accessed at (login required):

http://channel.sap.com/sbo/documentation

Appendix 3 – Performance tuning In order to address performance issues on the client or server, the system can be “tuned”. The following includes information on several “tuning” steps relevant for hardware, SQL server, and MS Windows that can be recommended.

(a) SQL performance tuning

Maintain database on a daily basis with the following tasks:

• Update statistics

• Reindex database tables


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(b) Windows tuning

• By default, a process on the MS Windows Server Standard version (32 Bit) only uses a maximum of 2 GB of memory – unless the boot.ini file has been changed to use more (check options /3GB or /PAE).

• If you want to use more than 4 GB, you need Windows Server Enterprise Version – and boot.ini should contain the command /PAE.

• SQL 2000:

- Make sure that SQL server uses more than 2 GB.

- In SQL 2000 SP4, you need apply a hot fix so that it can use more than 4 GB.

• SQL 2005 Standard Edition uses the memory supported by MS Windows. The AWE function is a check box, instead of a query like in SQL 2000.

(c) Disk arrays

• It is important that the MDF files of the database are in a RAID 5 or RAID 10 with SCSI or SATA disc at 15,000 RPM.

• For the ldf files, RAID 1 or a separate disc than for the mdf file is recommended!

• Temporary database should be in another RAID 1 or on a separate disc.

• Increase the percent size of temporary database to increase the response time in large reports and processes.

(d) When performance issues are related to a specific process and the above recommendations do not result in desired improvements, SQL Profiler should be run and queries of the specific process should be analyzed. Then run a query optimizer or tuning in MS SQL 2005, e.g. to fix bad index tables.

Documents

Sap Business One Setup Sizing