Sap Vblock Migration Whitepaper

© 2011 VCE Company, LLC. All rights reserved. 1

SAP OS/DB MIGRATION FROM HP-UX

PLATFORM TO VBLOCKTM

PLATFORMS

July, 2011

WHITE PAPER


Table of Contents

Executive Summary .............................................................................................. 3 Business Case .................................................................................................. 3 Key Results ....................................................................................................... 3

Scope ................................................................................................................ 4 Objectives ......................................................................................................... 4 Audience ........................................................................................................... 4

Architecture Overview ........................................................................................... 5

Vblock™ Infrastructure Platform Introduction .................................................... 5 Environment and Configuration Details ................................................................. 6

Customer HP Platform and SAP configuration .................................................. 6 Database configuration on HP-UX Platform ...................................................... 7 Vblock 700 Configuration .................................................................................. 7

SAP Server Configuration on Vblock Platforms ................................................ 8 SAP Database Storage Configuration on Vblock Platforms .............................. 8

Summary comparison of Vblock Platforms and customer‟s HP configuration ... 9 SAP Systems Sizing Considerations ............................................................... 10

Migration ............................................................................................................. 13 SAP OS/DB Migration ..................................................................................... 13 Migration Steps ............................................................................................... 13

1. Prepare the Source System ........................................................................ 13 2. Export of the Source System Database ...................................................... 15

3. Prepare the Target System ......................................................................... 20 4. Import the database into the target system ................................................. 21 5. Post-migration Activities .............................................................................. 29

Test Results ........................................................................................................ 31 Test Environment ............................................................................................ 31 Test Objectives ................................................................................................ 31

SAP performance testing includes two major components: ............................ 32 Testing Results ................................................................................................ 33

Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 34 References ......................................................................................................... 35

Appendix A ......................................................................................................... 36 Test 1 .............................................................................................................. 36 Test 2 .............................................................................................................. 38

Test 3 .............................................................................................................. 40 Test 4 .............................................................................................................. 41


Executive Summary

This document describes best practices for the OS/DB migration of SAP from HP Integrity Itanium servers running

PA-RISC/HP-UX to the VblockTM

Infrastructure Platforms running x86/Red Hat Linux. These best practices show

how customers can lower the migration risk of moving from a physical environment running HP-UX to Vblock

platforms running Red Hat Linux in a virtualized environment.

Traditional infrastructure practices recommend sizing for the worst case, which is an inefficient approach that adds

to business risk. With Vblock platforms, customers can size for the optimum size and take advantage of the

dynamic scalability for SAP to support the worst-case scenarios.

This paper provides guidance and testing results from a proof of concept (POC) performed for a large

semiconductor equipment manufacturing company. The company‟s SAP landscape includes the following

modules: ERP, SCM, SRM, BI, PI, EP. The tests involved migration and performance of two core SAP modules,

ERP SCM and LiveCache. Vblock Series 700 model MX was used as the target environment for this migration.

Business Case

Virtualization has rapidly gained momentum in enterprise IT environments because organizations are looking for

ways to control escalating hardware costs, and to optimize their use of energy and resources while improving

business continuity. Virtualization of complex SAP applications can reduce costs and increase speed and

resilience. Virtualization also permits faster data analysis and expands data analysis capabilities.

Key Results

Key results demonstrate that once deployed on the Vblock platforms, SAP showed performance improvement

well over the incumbent hardware. The following lists the key findings:

Performance improvement of 50% or more when running SAP on the Vblock platforms compared with a

large semiconductor equipment manufacturer‟s environment.

50% less hardware was used compared to the customer‟s environment

Low migration risk of moving from an HP-UX based physical environment to a Vblock platform virtualized

environment

Fast recovery of failed application and database server blades with UIM and Cisco UCS service profiles

Increase scalability to dynamically add resources

High availability and live migration demonstrated though vMotion


Figure 1. Vblock platform shows high performance compared to HP-UX

Scope

This document provides best practices for the OS/DB migration of SAP from HP Integrity Itanium servers running

PA-RISC/HP-UX to the Vblock Infrastructure Platforms running x86/Red Hat Linux.

Objectives

The objectives of the SAP OS/DB Migration from HP-UX Platform to Vblock Platforms best practices paper are to:

1. Show how best practices were utilized to successfully complete the SAP migration to Vblock 700 and explain

how customers can use the same best practices to perform their migration. The approaches used for sizing,

application layout, storage layout, and the SAP migration procedure are all based on best practices.

2. Provide the collected testing/monitoring results data associated with the migration, and also demonstrate

running the applications on the Vblock 700.

3. Compare performance of a Vblock platform to a customer environment.

Audience

This paper is intended for Vblock platform customers, SAP administrators and architects, and technical

engineering staff, managers, IT planners, administrators, and other IT professionals who are evaluating, acquiring,

managing, operating, or deploying SAP in a virtualized data center environment.


Architecture Overview

Vblock™ Infrastructure Platform Introduction

Vblock platforms are enterprise- and service provider-class IT infrastructure units that are pre-engineered, tested,

and validated with pre-defined performance, capacity, and availability service levels. The standardized converged

infrastructure of the Vblock platform is a foundational building block for cloud computing that helps customers to

realize the benefits of applications running in a virtualized environment.

Vblock platforms are characterized by:

Repeatable units of construction based on matched performance, operational characteristics, and

discrete requirements of power, space, and cooling

Repeatable design patterns that facilitate rapid deployment, integration, and scalability

An architecture that can be scaled for the highest efficiencies in virtualization and workload mobility

An extensible management and orchestration model based on industry-standard tools, APIs, and

methods

A design that contains, manages, and mitigates failure scenarios in hardware and software

environments

Note: Refer to the Vblock™

Infrastructure Platform Architecture Overview for detailed information on the Vblock platforms architecture. Use the link provided in the References section of this paper.

At a high level, Figure 1 illustrates the various levels, or “layers” that make up the Vblock Infrastructure Platform.

Note that SAP applications sit above the other layers (OS, Virtualization, Compute, Storage, and Network).

Figure 2. Vblock Infrastructure Platform


Deploying SAP applications on the Vblock platform creates minimum risk because it has:

Production-ready, pre-engineered, integrated and tested units of virtualized infrastructure

Best-of-breed virtualization, network, compute, storage, security and management products

SLA driven, providing predictable performance capabilities and operational characteristics

Environment and Configuration Details

This section contains the configuration details for: 1. Customer HP platform and SAP configuration 2. The Vblock platforms configuration

a. Vblock 700 configuration b. SAP server configuration on Vblock platforms

Customer HP Platform and SAP configuration

Below are the customer‟s SAP modules that are in the Production landscape on HP-UX Platform.

SAP Component Estimated SAPS

(Based on the Hardware Configuration)

ECC 6.0 77,528

SCM 5.0 17,620

Live Cache 7.6 N.A

CRM 6.0 10,572

BW 7.0 52,860

PI 7.0 12,334

SRM 5.0 15,858

EP 7.0 26,430

GTS 7.1 8,810

GRC 5.3 3,524

SNC 7.0 10,572

Business Objects Enterprise 3.1 10,572

MDM 7.0 10,572

TREX 7.0 3,524

NetWeaver CE 3,524

For the OS/DB Migration proof of concept, the customer‟s business critical applications – SAP ERP Central

Component (ECC), SCM, and Live Cache are considered. All the other components were not migrated.


The following table details the servers in the ECC environment on HP-UX.

Server Model Operating System No. Of CPUs Memory in MB

ECCPDBCI ia64 hp server rx8640 HP-UX 11i v2 (11.23) 24 147,258

ECCPDI &ECCPDI1

ia64 hp server rx8640 HP-UX 11i v2 (11.23)

24 163,641

ECCPDI2 ia64 hp server rx8640 HP-UX 11i v2 (11.23) 8 65,469





The following table details the servers in the SCM environment on HP-UX.

Server Model Operating System No. Of CPUs Memory in MB

SCMPDBCI + Live Cache

ia64 hp server rx8640 HP-UX 11i v2 (11.23) 8 65,469

SCMPDI ia64 hp server rx8640 HP-UX 11i v2 (11.23) 8 98,171

SCMPDI2 ia64 hp server rx8640 HP-UX 11i v2 (11.23) 4 16,316

Database configuration on HP-UX Platform

Customer‟s SAP applications were running on Oracle database version 10.2.0.4. HP Service Guard provides high availability for the Oracle database.

Vblock 700 Configuration

The following table describes the Vblock 700 configuration that was used for this testing.

Component Configuration

Cisco Unified Computing System™

Cisco UCS B200-M2 Blade Servers – (4) 2 x Quad Core with 96 GB RAM

Cisco UCS B250-M2 Blade Servers – (4) 2 x Quad Core with 192 GB RAM

Storage EMC Symmetrix V-MAX 2 Engine Base - 112 number 15K FC Drives and 32

7.5K SATA Drives

Storage Area Network 1 FC Switch - Cisco MDS 9506 64 ports

1 Ethernet Switch

1 Virtual Switch - Nexus 1000 V


SAP Server Configuration on Vblock Platforms

Provided in this section are the configurations of the SAP systems that are part of the migration effort.

The following table describes the ECC environment on Vblock platforms.

Server Type Server Hardware OS vCPU Memory (in GB)

Physical ECCPDBCI UCS B250 M2 RHEL 5.5 N.A 192

Physical ECCPDBCI Failover node UCS B250 M2 RHEL 5.5 N.A 192

Virtual ECCPDI1 UCS B250 M2 RHEL 5.5 4 48






The following table describes the SCM environment on Vblock platforms.

Server Type Server Hardware OS vCPU Memory (in GB)

Virtual SCMPDBCI & Live Cache UCS B250 M2 RHEL 5.5 4 48

Virtual SCMPDBCI Failover node UCS B200 M2 RHEL 5.5 4 48

Virtual SCMPDI1 UCS B200 M2 RHEL 5.5 4 48

Virtual SCMPDI2 UCS B250 M2 RHEL 5.5 4 48

SAP Database Storage Configuration on Vblock Platforms

The following table details SAP database storage.

System Total IOPS IOPS/Sec (based on 8x7 time frame)

Database Size (GB)

FC (95%) SATA (5%)

SCM 106692228.2 529 303.74 4.59 0.73

ECC 1817228262 9014 2606.97 78.18 12.35

The following table details the drive configuration.

Drive type Size Drive speed RAID level

FC Drive 450GB 15000 RAID-10

SATA Drive 1TB 7200 RAID-62


Summary comparison of Vblock Platforms and customer‟s HP configuration

The following table provides an SAP ECC hardware layout comparison between HP and Vblock platforms.

Server Type Server HP Platform Vblock Platforms

Database Layer

Server type HP Integrity Superdome RX8640

Cisco UCS B250-M2

Configuration 24 Cores with 192 GB RAM 12 Cores with 192 GB RAM

OS/DB HPUX 11.23/Oracle 10.2 RHEL 5.5/Oracle 10.2

Number of DB Servers 2 (Physical) 2 (Physical)

SAPS on DB Server 42288 52960

Application Layer


Virtual Machine on B200-M2

Configuration 8 Cores with 65 GB RAM 4 vCPU with 48 GB RAM

OS HPUX 11.23 RHEL 5.5

Total SAPS on App servers 42288 (Physical) 47910 (Virtual)

Number of App server instances

6 6

Total SAPS on App server instances

42288 (Physical) 47910 (Virtual) with 35% of CPU Utilization


The following table provides an SAP SCM hardware layout comparison between HP and Vblock platforms.

Server Type Server HP Platform Vblock Platforms

Database Layer


Virtual Machine on Cisco UCS B250-M2


OS/DB HPUX 11.23/Oracle 10.2 RHEL 5.5/Oracle 10.2

Number of DB Servers 2 (Physical) 2 (Virtual)

SAPS on DB Server 14096 (Physical) 15970 (Virtual)


Virtual Machine on B200-M2

Application Layer


OS HPUX 11.23 RHEL 5.5

Number of App server 2 (Physical) 1 ESXi

Total SAPS on App servers 7048 (Physical) 15970 (Virtual)

Number of App server instances

2 (Physical) 2 (Virtual)

Total SAPS on App server instances

7048 (Physical) 15970 (Virtual)

SAP Systems Sizing Considerations

For any SAP system, the basic metric for sizing is the SAPS. The SAPS provided by the HP platform was

considered as the basis of the sizing:

The customer‟s HP-UX Platform included an HP Superdome and several RX8640 servers. Below are the SAPS calculations based on the SAP certification:

Total SAPS certified for RX8640 Server with 32 CPU: 28,200

SAPS/Core: 881

The UCS Server Platform has Cisco UCS B200-M2 & B250-M2 blade servers.

Total SAPS certified for Cisco UCS B200-M2 Blade Server with 24 CPU: 26,480

SAPS/Core: 1,103

Based on the current capacity on the HP-UX Platform, the same capacity is provided on the Vblock platform to provide the same number of SAPS.


For the SAP DB or Application servers that are running on the Virtual Platform, SAPS are calculated as below:

Total number of SAPS available on Cisco UCS B200-M2/B250-M2: 26,480

Total number of SAPS available for better performance with 65% of CPU and considering 10% VMware overhead: 26,480*0.65*0.9 = 15,490

Server

No. of CPUs

Memory in MB

Total SAPS

Blade#

# Cisco UCS M2 Blade

Type SAP Server

Hardware

ECCPDBCI 24 147,258 21,144 1 1 Physical ECCPDBCI

UCS B250 M2

ECCPDI + ECCPDI1

24 163,641 21,144 2 1 Physical

ECCPDBCI Failover node

UCS B250 M2

ECCPDI2 8 65,469 7,048 3 0.45 Virtual ECCPDI1 UCS B250 M2





8 65,468 7,048 5 0.45 Virtual ECCPDI6 UCS B200 M2

SCMPDBCI 8 65,469 7,048 6 0.45 Virtual SCMPDBCI + Live Cache

UCS B250 M2

SCMPDI 8 98,171 7,048 7 0.45 Virtual

SCMPDBCI Failover node

UCS B200 M2

SCMPDI2 4 16,316 3,524 7 0.23 Virtual SCMPDI1 UCS B200 M2

4 16,316 3,524 6 0.23 Virtual SCMPDI2 UCS B250 M2


The following sizing was performed and represents best practices:

To utilize the advantages of the virtualization that is provided on Vblock platforms, all the SAP

application servers were sized on virtual servers

The ECC database was sized on the physical blade servers per the customer‟s requirement

The SCM database was sized on the virtualized servers

The Live Cache application and its MaxDB database were sized on the virtual servers

Storage sizing was performed using the 2-tier sizing method from EMC


Migration

The POC migration was performed as a best practice to lower the migration risk of moving from a physical

environment to a Vblock platform virtualized environment. These migration steps demonstrate recommended best

practices.

SAP OS/DB Migration

SAP OS/DB migration is performed based on SAP‟s standard process of „heterogeneous system copy‟. SAP

standard tools are used to perform the OS/DB migration. The following sections provide the step-by-step

procedure.

Migration Steps

The migration involves 5 major steps and their related sub-steps.

1. Prepare the source system

2. Export of the source system database

3. Prepare the target system

4. Import the database into the target system

5. Post-migration activities

For more details on the specific steps, refer to the SAP documentation for Heterogeneous System Copy Guide

available at SAP Service Marketplace. See the link located in the References section of this document.

1. Prepare the Source System

Step 1. Download SAP Media

Verify that all required DVDs for the system copy are available.

Required DVDs:

Installation Master DVD

Java DVD

Step 2. Execute pending updates, if any. Delete any canceled updates

Check for pending or cancelled requests in the system. Check this in transaction SM13. If canceled or pending

updates exist, you must update these again, or delete them from all clients. You can find out whether canceled or

pending updates exist by checking if table VBDATA contains any entries.

Step 3. Delete the QCM tables

Before the export, delete QCM tables from your system. Before deleting always check:

a. That the tables are consistent: no restart log or conversion procedure termination must be displayed.

b. That the data of the original table can be read.

c. If application programs that use the affected original table do not run correctly, do not delete the QCM table, yet.


Step 4. Delete all entries from tables TATGPC and TATGPCA

Check to make sure that the tables TATGPC and TATGPCA are empty before the export of the source system.

Step 5. Update the latest versions of R3load, R3ldctl, and R3czchk in the Kernel directory

The SAP Migration process uses the following tools. Update these tools to the latest available versions before

starting the migration process:

R3load - Unloads/loads ABAP table data from/into the database

R3ldctl - Unloads ABAP dictionary structures from the database

R3czchk - Computes size of ABAP tables and indexes for the target database and computes the ABAP

related size for the target database.

Step 6. Update the database parameters for sessions and processes

Update the database parameters for sessions and processes on the source system as per SAP

recommendations. These are the factors which affect the data export from the source system.

Step 7. Increase the table space for PSAPTEMP

Increase the table space for PSAPTEMP to avoid any unload terminations during the export process. PSAPTEMP

is the database storage unit that is used for the sorting. R3load exports data in the primary key order. More

temporary databases disk space is required for sorting.

Step 8. Perform the complete database backup

Perform a complete database backup to safeguard the changes made for the export preparation. Regular backup

methods are followed.

Step 9. Run the program SMIGR_CREATE_DDL as batch job

Run the SMIGR_CREATE_DDL program as the batch job in the background, a mandatory step before exporting

the data from the source system.

This program allows the copying of database objects that do not correspond to SAP standards. These objects

include partitioned (fragmented) tables and bitmap indexes. Special '<TABART>.SQL' files are generated for

these objects. These files contain 'native DDL' (create) statements and can be analyzed by R3load.

Step 10.Turn off the archive logs and redo logs mirroring

Disable the archive log mode and redo logs mirroring (use only one redo log member per redo group) to avoid any

space issues during the export process.

Step 11. Mount the NFS share with required size for the export dump

Separate storage is provided to store the export dump. This storage is mounted as NFS share on the source

system.


Step 12. Check the ‘/tmp’ file system

Check the /tmp file system for its existence and to make sure that it has adequate space as required for the

SAPinst during the export process.

Step 13. Obtain root level access in the source system

Root access is needed to perform the export process on the source system.

2. Export of the Source System Database

Step 1. Start the export preparation process in the source system

Run SAPinst to perform the Export Preparation service.

1. Start the SAP INSTALLER 2. Select: System Copy Oracle Source system export Central system system based on AS

ABAP and AS JAVA Export Preparation

As soon as the export preparations have successfully completed, the complete export directory with its structure

and the generated files that are required for building up the target system are transferred to the export dump

directory. The dump directory, its subdirectories, and files are accessible for <SAPSID>adm of the target system.

Step 2. Table splitting preparation:

The processing unit for one unload/load process is a package. During the standard system copy process, all

tables of the SAP system are grouped into packages, all tables with the same data class belong to the same

package. The packages differ in the number and size of contained tables, resulting in varying unload/load

runtimes. The overall runtime can be reduced by creating packages of the same size. The method to create a

package of the same size is to create packages with a similar processing time. You can achieve this by splitting

the default packages (one package per data class) into smaller pieces.

The table splitting preparation has to be performed by splitting the large tables to parallelize more R3load processes.

1. Set the home to /home/<SID>adm

2. Start the SAP INSTALLER 3. Select: System Copy Oracle Source system export Central system system based on AS

ABAP and AS JAVA Table splitting preparation


a. Enter the following general parameters for table splitting. The parameters are:

SAPSID

File with Tables to be split

Export Directory

Number of parallel R3ta run

Database type (Oracle)_ b. Select the table splitter option. The option for this migration is ‘R3ta table splitter’. c. Enter the number of WHR files for each table. d. The table splitting preparation is successfully completed.


Step 3. Start database export (ABAP+JAVA)

To start the database export:

1. Start the SAP INSTALLER.

2. Select System Copy Oracle Source system export Central system system based on AS ABAP and AS JAVA Database and Central Instance Export.

3. Enter the SAP profile directory of the source system. Typically, this is /sapmnt/SAPSID/profile


4. Choose the method for copying the database content. Use database specific tools option must be unchecked.

5. Enter the export location for the database export. This is typically a local directory or an NFS share.

6. Confirm the execution of the report, SMIGR_CREATE_DDL

a. Provide the location for the SQL File Directory. Any temporary directory will work.

The option “Yes, use the generated SQL files for the system copy” must be checked.

7. Enter the system parameters for the source system database.

8. Enter the Java splitting parameters.

9. Enter the export parameters. Pay attention to the Target Hardware Platform selected as “Little-Endian” .


10. Enter the unload options for the database export. Unload Options: -loadprocedure fast

11. Choose the option to run the database statistics updates. Here we have chosen to skip the statistics.

12. Update before the export.

13. After you have finished entering all the parameters and options, a summary window will open.

Confirm all your options and choose „Next‟. The export process will be started.


14. The source system database is now successfully exported.

3. Prepare the Target System

Step 1. Install all the prerequisites for SAP on Linux systems

Install all the RPM‟s that are required by SAP as per SAP Note - 171356.

Step 2. Install Java 1.4.2 IBM version

Install the Java 1.4.2 version as required by the SAP installation.

Step 3. Adopt OS level parameters required for Linux systems as recommended by SAP

Adopt the OS level parameters that are recommended by SAP.

Step 4. Validate the SAP and Oracle file systems

Validate the file systems that are required by the SAP installation.

Step 5. Enable the 3rd

party security software to create the system users

Enable the BoKS software which is required by the customer to create the system users.


Step 6. Install the Oracle binaries and perform the database patching

Install the Oracle software and update the database and bring it to the required patch level.

Step 7. Mount the NFS file system, which contains the export dump

Mount the NFS file system which is used in the export process as export dump.

Step 8. Create the migration key

Generate the migration key at http://service.sap.com/migrationkey. Enter the installation number of the source

system when prompted.

Step 9. Adopt the database parameters for the processes, sessions and increase SGA

The database parameters are changed on the target system as per SAP recommendations. These are the factors

which affect the data import into the target system.

4. Import the database into the target system

Step 1. Install SCS and ASCS on the Virtual hosts

1. To install SCS and ASCS on the Virtual hosts, start the SAPinst.

2. Select System Copy Oracle Target System Installation Distributed System

Central Services Instance (SCS).

3. Select the parameter mode as „Custom‟.


4. Provide SAP System parameters such as: a. SAP SID of the target system. b. System mount directory location. Ensure that Unicode System is checked.

5. Review the prerequisites checker. If there are any severe errors, take the necessary action to

resolve.

6. Provide the SCS instance parameter for SCS Instance Number. Typically this set to “00”

7. Provide the SCS instance parameter for Internal SCS Message Server Port.

Accept the default of 3900, and also the SCS instance number selected above.

8. Provide the software packages and the location.

Provide the directory locations where you have stored your installation media.

9. Select the archives that need to be unpacked for the installation.

Check all the checkboxes.

10. After you enter all the parameters and options, a summary window will open.

Confirm all your options and choose ‘Next’. The installation process will be started.

12. The installation of the SCS instance is successfully completed.


Step 2. Import the database on Virtual hosts

To import the database on Virtual hosts:

1. Start the SAPinst and select: System Copy Oracle Target System Installation Distributed

System Database Instance.

2. Provide the software packages and the location where you have stored your installation media.

3. Provide the JDK directory.

4. Provide the JCE Policy files archive location.

5. Provide the SAP system profile directory. This is typically /sapmnt/SAPSID/profile

6. Provide the master password for all users that SAPinst creates during the installation.

7. Select the installation method as „Standard system copy/Migration (load based)’.

8. Enter the database parameters for the target system database. The database SID should be the

same as the SAPSI you selected in earlier steps.

9. Provide the location of the source system database export directory. This is the location where you

stored the export from the source system database.


10. Provide the database system parameters.

11. Set the password for the database users.

12. Provide the media location for the database installation.

13. Provide the Oracle listener configuration parameters. Typically this is LISTENER_SAPSID;

14. Leave other options at default values.

15. Select the Oracle advanced configuration parameters.

16. Provide the database instance file systems. ORACLE_HOME, ORACLE_STAGE and sapdata home

Directory.


17. Provide the SAP data paths. Make sure there are a minimum of 4 SAP data paths.

18. Provide the database specific information as shown below.

19. Provide the table space parameters. Sizes used in this case are listed in the table, below. The following table spaces were designed as shown in the following table.

Table space SAPDATA

Volume File size (GB)

Number of DB files

Total Size (GB)

PSAPSR3 SAPDATA1 20 46 1000





PSAPSR3DB SAPDATA3 20 1 20

PSAPSR3USR SAPDATA4 20 9 180

PSAPUNDO SAPDATA3 20 4 80

SYSAUX SAPDATA3 10 1 10

SYSYEM SAPDATA3 10 1 10

PSAPTEMP SAPDATA4 20 15 300



20. Provide the database control file information. Oracle best practice recommends 3 separate control files.

21. Enter the general load parameters for the database import. Important: The migration key is intentionally entered with a wrong key in order to pause the import after

the DB create. This will help tune the target DB and improve the import performance.

22. Select the option to update the database statistics at the end of the import.

23. Provide the location of the database media for the installation.

After you enter all the parameters and options, a summary window opens. Confirm all your options and choose „Next‟. The installation process begins.


24. When the system is ready for the database installation, the SAPinst will be stopped and prompted to start the database installation. Complete the database installation and return to SAPinst.

25. When the database installation is complete, choose the „Ok‟ prompt on the SAPinst, This will resume the installation and complete it.


The installation is now successfully completed.

Step 3. Install Central Instance using Java dump

1. To install, choose the Central Instance option.

2. Provide the software package location as in previous steps.

3. Provide the Profile Directory location; typically this is /sapmnt/SAPSID/profile

4. Enter and confirm the SAP Master Password.

5. Set the Oracle Listener Configuration. 6. Enter the Central Instance Number, typically this is “01”

7. Provide the Central Instance parameters. Leave these at default values.

8. Provide the location of the software packages. 9. Enter and confirm the J2EE Engine Administrator (j2ee_admin) password. 10. Enter the Secure Store user (administrator) and password. 11. Choose the checkbox Interrupt the installation before start of system. 12. Enter the DDIC, client 000 password. 13. Provide the location of the Oracle kernel and Oracle client software packages.


14. Select desired archives. 15. Provide the SAP Solution Manager Key. Refer to SAP documentation for instructions to get a solution

manager key. 16. Install the Diagnostics Agent.

The installation successfully completes.

Step 6. Install the application servers

Install the application servers for the target system using the SAPinst tool. The detailed procedure is not included

in this document. The installation procedure is available in the „SAP Installation Guides‟ at the SAP site. Use the

link located in the References section of this paper.

5. Post-migration Activities

Step 1. Fine tuning the Database parameters

Follow the SAP recommendations to tune the database parameters based on the target system database. (In this scenario, the target system database is Oracle.)

Step 2. Start SAP

1. Login to the target SAP system host.

2. Start the SAP Database and instance.

Step 3. Run installation check

Run the installation check on the target system using transaction SICK


Step 4. Install the license key

Once the installation of the target system is completed and the SAP system copy has been imported, you must

install a new license key.

Step 5. Reconfigure Java, Memory tune-up and test

Reconfigure the Java parameters using the SAP Note – 831812.

Step 6. Import the profiles

Import the profiles in transaction RZ10 by selecting from the menu: Utilities Import Profiles of active servers

Step 7. Start the application servers

1. Start the application server instances.

2. Check them in transaction SM50.

Step 8. Reconfigure the STMS and change the hostnames

Configure the Transport Management System (transaction STMS). If you did not change the SAPSID during the system copy, all of the open transport, repair, and customizing requests that have not been released in the source system will not be released automatically.

Step 9. Change all the RFC destinations

In transaction SM59, change the destinations to the new host.

Step 10. Execute the program RS_BW_POST_MIGRATION

Execute the program RS_BW_POST_MIGRATION in the background by using variant SAP&POSTMGR.

Program RS_BW_POST_MIGRATION performs necessary modifications on database-specific objects (mainly BI

objects).

Step 11. Perform TEMSE consistency check and cleanup

Using transaction SP12, check the consistency of the Temporary Sequential Objects (TemSe)

by searching for files of TemSe objects for which no TemSe objects exist, and then delete the objects as

necessary.

Step 12. Configure the logon groups

Configure the logon groups using the transaction SMLG.

Step 13. Perform a complete backup

Perform a complete backup of the system before allowing it to be used.


Test Results

Test Environment

The test environment was set up using Load Runner 9.2.

Test Objectives

The test objective is to compare the Vblock platform system with the HP-UX environment. This was

performed in two major categories:

1. SAP performance testing.

2. Operational efficiency of a Vblock platform.

Various tests were conducted on a SAP database, central instance, and application server configuration

comparable to the large semiconductor company‟s production configurations. Performance testing was

compared to performance test results from the semiconductor company‟s production P08 and P04 system.

(P08 is the SAP Production Planning system; P04 is the SAP (Delta) Materials Management production

building block.)

Testing included these categories:

Virtualized SAP application server layer

SAP workload balancing using DRS

On demand scaling of SAP application servers

Online response times tests and batch throughput

Stress tests using HP Load Runner to test Vblock platform capacity limits

Reliability and redundancy of Server, Storage, and Network components

Dynamic resource allocation using UIM

Migration of various components

The following test sets were performed:

1. Migrate and run SAP ECC, SCM and Live Cache successfully on Vblock platforms infrastructure:

a. Using standard SAP OS/DB migration tools, the VCE team migrate the SAP landscape from the source

environment to the Vblock platform, transporting the data using an external NAS device or network.

b. Deploy SAP Applications ECC and SCM using Adaptive Installation Best Practices; configure the

systems to enable connectivity to a large semiconductor manufacturing company‟s Adaptive Computing

Controller.

c. Apply SAP best practice recommendation for tuning for optimum performance.

d. Demonstrate complete functionality of SAP ECC and SCM systems by logging into the systems and

executing a few key Basis and sample business transactions.

2. Demonstrate performance of the SAP system on Vblock platforms meets or exceeds the current

benchmarked performance (KPIs) - using standard SAP OS/DB migration tools, the VCE team migrates the

SAP landscape from the source environment to the Vblock platforms, transporting the data using an external

NAS device or network.

3. Demonstrate highly available system meets or exceeds the current SLA and the availability of the current

system.


a. The HA solution for the SAP systems database: SAP CI & DB HA with Red Hat Linux Cluster suite

(Active, Active solution).

b. The HA solution for the application servers: Multiple DIA and BGD instances on Virtual Machines

distributed on separate ESX servers.

4. Demonstrate „stateless‟ computing (hardware failure and recovery matches or exceeds existing system) by

demonstrating the provisioning of a UCS blade on the Vblock platforms using the service profile in case of a

blade failure.

The above tests were performed using various tools and techniques. Only Vblock platforms and SAP standard

procedures and methods are used to perform benchmarking.

SAP performance testing includes two major components:

1. Interactive performance testing (Dialog Transactions)

For this testing, HP Load Runner was used to simulate Production load (1200 ECC Dialog Users + Batch Runs +

SCM Batch Jobs + Batch Runs) on the SAP Vblock platform. The Avg. Transaction response times were

compared against the Service Levels provided with the AMAT EWR.

Below are some of the metrics that were monitored during the test.

Application & Database Performance Counters:

Average CPU time

Memory

Average response time

Throughput

Average Wait time

Average load time

Database calls

Database request

2. Batch Processing

Batch workload was simulated, in addition to the Dialog runs, to significantly increase the workload on the system

to identify the capacity limits. In addition to the analysis of the Load Runner results, utilization statistics were

gathered at all infrastructure levels (OS, Hypervisor, Storage, and Network) during the runs.


Testing Results

Performance testing results

• Vblock platforms performed 50% better compared against HP-UX

• Average CPU of HP-UX Production was 42.2%

• Average CPU on Vblock platforms was 17%, under the same load

Stress testing results

• At 42% CPU utilization, HP-UX supported an active user count of 150, and logged on user count of 1200

• At 43% CPU utilization, the Vblock platforms supported an active user count of 250, and logged on user

count of 1800

• At 100% CPU utilization, Vblock platforms supported active user count of 350 and logged on user count of

approx. 2500

SCM – OM17 Batch job testing Results

• 38% performance improvement on Vblock platforms compared to the HP-UX platform

See Appendix A for the formative test data and charts.


Conclusion

The traditional method of sizing for SAP landscapes on physical servers is to size for the worst-case demand

scenario. This practice is known to have significantly higher initial capital acquisition costs and ongoing operational

costs that are decreasing business agility and increasing business risks.

This paper alleviates concerns of execution risks and provides guidance to customers who choose to re-platform

their SAP landscapes to an x86-based architecture and take advantage of lower capital acquisition costs and

virtualization to improve agility.

The goals for this POC and results outlined in this paper were to:

1. Show best practices were utilized to successfully complete the SAP migration to Vblock 700 model MX and

explain how customers can use the same best practices to perform their migration.

2. Provide the collected testing/monitoring results data associated with the migration that also

demonstrates running the applications on the Vblock 700 model MX.

3. Compare performance of a Vblock platform to a customer environment.

Best practice techniques from the VCE parent companies, who are industry leaders in their respective domains,

were used in sizing of the application and database servers, storage, and file-system layout. This helps remove

the guesswork that is typically used during such efforts. These best practices involved right-sizing of the Vblock

platform at compute, storage, and network layers.

In this POC, it was demonstrated that by using the Vblock platform, and its inbuilt virtualization using VMware, that

the following were achieved :

Performance improvement of 50%, or more, when running SAP on the Vblock platforms compared with a

semiconductor equipment manufacture‟s environment

50% less hardware used compared to the customer‟s environment

Low migration risk of moving from an HP-UX based physical environment to a Vblock platform virtualized

environment

Fast recovery of failed application and database server blades with UIM and Cisco UCS service profiles

Increased scalability to dynamically add resources

High availability and live migration demonstrated though vMotion


References

VCE

Vblock™

Infrastructure Platform Architecture Overview

SAP

To read the SAP documentation on SAP Service Marketplace see the links below.

Note: To access this documentation SAP requires that you have registered and have a user id and password.

Contact SAP to set up your user id.

SAP documentation for Heterogeneous System Copy Guide:

System Copy for SAP Systems Based on NW 7.0 EHP1 ABAP+Java

SAP Installation Guides: Service.sap.com/instguides --> Installation & Upgrade Guides (left hand side menu) --> SAP Business Suite Applications --> SAP ERP 6.0 -->

http://vce.com/pdf/solutions/vce-vblock-infrastructure-reference-architecture.pdf

https://websmp106.sap-ag.de/~form/sapnet?_FRAME=OBJECT&_HIER_KEY=501100035870000015092&_HIER_KEY=601100035870000179414&_HIER_KEY=601100035870000179422&_HIER_KEY=601100035870000204995&_HIER_KEY=701100035871000439302&


Appendix A

This appendix outlines the description and purpose of the individual test scenarios, and their results. See the

Test Results section of this paper for the summative data and discussions.

Test 1

Migrate and run SAP ECC, SCM & Live Cache successfully on Vblock platforms.

Test Description

Test 1a Using standard SAP OS/DB migration tools, the VCE team will migrate the SAP landscape from the source environment to the Vblock platform; transporting the data using an external NAS device or network.

Test 1b Deploy SAP Applications ECC and SCM using Adaptive Installation Best Practices; configure the systems to enable connectivity to a large semiconductor equipment manufacturing company‟s Adaptive Computing Controller.

Test 1c Apply SAP best practice recommendation for tuning for optimum performance.

Test 1d Demonstrate complete functionality of SAP ECC and SCM systems by logging into the systems and executing a few key Basis and sample business transactions.

Figure A.1. Using best practices, migrated SAP landscape and data, demonstrated

improvement running on Vblock platforms


Figure A.2. Vblock platform shows high performance compared to HP-UX

Figure A.3. SAP transactions demonstrate complete functionality of SAP ECC and SCM systems.


Test 2

Demonstrate performance of the SAP system on Vblock platforms meets or exceeds the current benchmarked performance

(KPIs). Using standard SAP OS/DB migration tools, the VCE team migrates the SAP landscape from the source environment to

the Vblock platforms, transporting the data using an external NAS device or network.

Figure A.4. Performance: P08 Workload analysis: 1200 Logged on Users; 150 Active Users

Figure A.5. KPI – CPU Performance


Figure A.6. KPI – Memory Consumpton Performance

Figure A.7. KPI – Network Performance


Test 3

Demonstrate highly available system meets or exceeds the current SLA and the availability of the current system.

Test Description

Test 3a The HA solution for the SAP systems database: SAP CI & DB HA with Red Hat Linux Cluster suite (Active, Active solution)

Test 3b The HA solution for the application servers: Multiple DIA and BGD instances on Virtual Machines distributed on separate ESX servers.

Figure A.8. Highly available system - LR Scenario: 1200 Total Users, 150 Active, Production Batch Load


Test 4

Demonstrate „stateless‟ computing (hardware failure and recovery matches or exceeds existing system).

Demonstrate the provisioning of a UCS blade on the Vblock platforms using the service profile in case of a blade

failure.

Figure A.9. Rapid hardware recovery and blade provisioning


ABOUT VCE

VCE, the Virtual Computing Environment Company formed by Cisco and EMC with investments from VMware and Intel,

accelerates the adoption of converged infrastructure and cloud-based computing models that dramatically reduce the

cost of IT while improving time to market for our customers. VCE, through the Vblock platform, delivers the industry's first

completely integrated IT offering with end-to-end vendor accountability. VCE's prepackaged solutions are available

through an extensive partner network, and cover horizontal applications, vertical industry offerings, and application

development environments, allowing customers to focus on business innovation instead of integrating, validating and

managing IT infrastructure.

For more information, go to www.vce.com.

THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS." VCE MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR MECHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Copyright © 2011 VCE Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Vblock and the VCE logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of VCE Company, LLC. and/or its affiliates in the United States or other countries. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

Documents

Sap Vblock Migration Whitepaper