Adaptive Hardware Infrastructures for SAP

Foreword ... 13

Foreword ... 15

Introduction ... 17

1. SAP NetWeaver ... 23
... 1.1 The SAP Product Portfolio ... 24
... 1.2 The Components of SAP NetWeaver ... 26
... 1.3 SAP Enterprise Portal ... 27
... 1.4 SAP Mobile Infrastructure ... 32
... 1.5 SAP Business Intelligence ... 34
... 1.6 SAP Knowledge Warehouse ... 40
... 1.7 SAP Master Data Management ... 42
... 1.8 SAP Exchange Infrastructure ... 45
... 1.9 SAP NetWeaver Development Environment ... 50
... 1.10 SAP Solution Manager ... 54
... 1.11 User and Authorization Management ... 57
... 1.12 Summary ... 59

2. mySAP Business Applications ... 61
... 2.1 mySAP ERP ... 62
... 2.2 Industry Solutions ... 71
... 2.3 mySAP Customer Relationship Management ... 72
... 2.4 mySAP Supply Chain Management ... 79
... 2.5 mySAP Supplier Relationship Management ... 85
... 2.6 mySAP Product Lifecycle Management ... 87
... 2.7 An Example of SAP xApps: SAP Global Trade Services ... 91
... 2.8 Solutions for Small and Midsize Enterprises ... 92
... 2.9 Summary ... 92

3. SAP Web Application Server ... 95
... 3.1 The Classic SAP Architecture ... 96
... 3.2 The Anatomy of the Web AS ... 97
... 3.3 Internationalization ... 106
... 3.4 SAP System Landscapes ... 111
... 3.5 Grid Computing ... 115
... 3.6 Summary ... 117

4. System Dimensioning and Service Level Agreements ... 119
... 4.1 The Meaning of Service Level Agreements ... 120
... 4.2 User-Based Sizing ... 123
... 4.3 Transaction-Based Sizing ... 124
... 4.4 The Limits of the Sizing Process ... 127
... 4.5 Response Time ... 129
... 4.6 Main Memory Requirement ... 132
... 4.7 Hard Disk Capacity ... 135
... 4.8 Units of Measure for Application Load and System Throughput ... 136
... 4.9 Sizing SAP NetWeaver Systems ... 138
... 4.10 Sizing mySAP Solutions ... 143
... 4.11 Deciding on the Server Configuration ... 147
... 4.12 Guaranteed Performance? ... 150
... 4.13 How Reliable Is Sizing? ... 152
... 4.14 Summary ... 157

5. SAP System Platforms ... 159
... 5.1 Computer Technologies for mySAP ... 160
... 5.2 Processor Architectures ... 161
... 5.3 Main Memory Architectures ... 165
... 5.4 Error-Tolerant Memory ... 167
... 5.5 The System Bus ... 168
... 5.6 I/O Architectures ... 171
... 5.7 Blade Servers ... 172
... 5.8 Operating Systems for mySAP ... 173
... 5.9 Databases for mySAP ... 179
... 5.10 System Performance and Scalability ... 180
... 5.11 Memory Addressing ... 183
... 5.12 Summary ... 187

6. Data Storage for SAP Systems ... 189
... 6.1 The "Files" of an SAP System ... 189
... 6.2 Read/Write Accesses from the Application Perspective ... 193
... 6.3 Read/Write Performance from the Physical Perspective ... 194
... 6.4 Availability from a Data Perspective ... 196
... 6.5 File Systems ... 203
... 6.6 Disk Array Caches ... 204
... 6.7 Data Replication ... 206
... 6.8 Connection Technologies for Disk Subsystems ... 208
... 6.9 Sizing Storage Subsystems ... 214
... 6.10 Structuring Storage Subsystems ... 220
... 6.11 The Other SAP Servers ... 228
... 6.12 Consolidating Storage Subsystems ... 230
... 6.13 Data Archiving ... 231
... 6.14 Summary ... 234

7. High Availability SAP Systems ... 235
... 7.1 Downtimes ... 236
... 7.2 What Is Availability? ... 237
... 7.3 What Level of Availability Is Required? ... 238
... 7.4 How Much Performance Is Necessary in an Emergency? ... 240
... 7.5 What Level of Stability Is Required? ... 241
... 7.6 Avoiding Downtime ... 243
... 7.7 Components of High Availability ... 244
... 7.8 The Proper Environment ... 246
... 7.9 Hardware Infrastructure ... 248
... 7.10 Operating Systems ... 251
... 7.11 Failover Systems ... 254
... 7.12 SAP Cluster Configurations ... 259
... 7.13 Cluster Consistency ... 266
... 7.14 Data Backup ... 270
... 7.15 Backup/Restore and Recovery ... 274
... 7.16 Application ... 282
... 7.17 System Operation ... 285
... 7.18 Summary ... 286

8. Presentation Layer and Output Management ... 289
... 8.1 Frontend-The User Interface ... 289
... 8.2 The Future-Web Dynpro ... 293
... 8.3 Mobilization-Online and Offline ... 297
... 8.4 Output for mySAP ... 298
... 8.5 Summary ... 309

9. Network Requirements for SAP ... 311
... 9.1 The Influence of the Network on Performance ... 312
... 9.2 Network Influence on Costs ... 318
... 9.3 Network Load Caused by Different SAP Applications ... 323
... 9.4 Estimating the Required Bandwidth ... 327
... 9.5 Network Influence on Availability ... 336
... 9.6 Summary ... 338

10. Logical Network Architectures and Network Security ... 341
... 10.1 Logical Network Structures ... 342
... 10.2 Load Balancing and Availability ... 352
... 10.3 Security Aspects ... 358
... 10.4 Summary ... 365

11. Local Area Network Solutions ... 367
... 11.1 High Availability for Local Networks ... 368
... 11.2 Wires and Fibers ... 375
... 11.3 Potential Equalization, Grounding, and Lightning Protection ... 381
... 11.4 Wireless Networks ... 383
... 11.5 Voice-Data Convergence ... 392
... 11.6 Summary ... 393

12. WAN and Web Connections ... 395
... 12.1 WAN Technologies ... 397
... 12.2 Strategies for Cost Optimization ... 405
... 12.3 Security Aspects of WAN Communication ... 409
... 12.4 Failure-Tolerant WAN Connections ... 411
... 12.5 Summary ... 415

13. Adaptive Infrastructures ... 417
... 13.1 Reasons for Adaptive Infrastructures ... 417
... 13.2 Virtualization of Hardware ... 420
... 13.3 SAP Adaptive Computing ... 427
... 13.4 Storage in the Adaptive Computing Concept ... 431
... 13.5 Software Logistics ... 432
... 13.6 Adaptive Application Scenarios ... 439
... 13.7 Summary ... 449

14. IT Service and Application Management ... 451
... 14.1 IT Service Management Reference Model ... 454
... 14.2 Enterprise System Management ... 462
... 14.3 Business Process Management ... 474
... 14.4 Example of a Typical Application Scenario ... 478
... 14.5 Summary ... 488

15. SAP Operating Costs ... 489
... 15.1 The Benefits of IT ... 490
... 15.2 IT Cost Structures ... 490
... 15.3 Cost-Efficiency Analyses ... 494
... 15.4 Reducing TCO by Consolidation ... 504
... 15.5 Reducing TCO by Platform Migration ... 510
... 15.6 Summary ... 516

Appendix ... 519
... A. Sources and Further Reading ... 519
... B. The Authors ... 521

Index ... 523