Virtualization for SAP Solutions

Discuss "SAP on VMware" at SAP Community Network

m@t — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:36:59 GMT

If you are a user of SAP Community Network, then you might have already seen the new forum about "SAP on VMware" which is live since Oct 21. The forum creates a platform for customers where answers to minor technical questions can be adressed or discussions about best practices, configurations, etc. can take place. You can find the forum right here:

http://forums.sdn.sap.com/forum.jspa?forumID=471

VMware Virtualizes Datacenter Infrastructure for SAP Managed Services: More Than 8000 Virtual Machines with VMware Software as Its Primary Platform

jorad — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:24:31 GMT

Today, VMware announced in a press release that SAP Managed Services, SAP AG's internal IT infrastructure provider, has deployed the VMware platform pervasively across its IT environment as the main virtualization platform for agile and adaptable implementations of SAP solutions.

This announcement follows a keynote that Dr. Krips (Sr. VP at SAP Managed Services) previously delivered at VMworld Cannes, and various presentations on this topic by Markus Winter (Head of Strategic Projects, SAP Managed Services) at VMworld conferences. SAP Managed Services developed a very comprehensive framework utilizing more than 8000 virtual machines with VMware software as its primary platform with the purpose of providing virtualized infrastructure solutions to internal SAP teams and customers.

Read the press release in full!

SAP Compendium: Virtualized SAP environments

m@t — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:12:50 GMT

I'd like to make you aware of the SAP Compendium, which has been published by SearchDataCenter.It contains a rich set of information on "Virtualized SAP environments" on more than 70 pages. You will find information about:

Virtualization Basics
Benefits and Examples of SAP virtualization
Why SAP SOA requires virtualization ?
SAP Virtualization workshop
TCO & ROI Analysis
Reference Customers

It is available at VMware's EMEA shop.

SAP Roadshow In Germany

m@t — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:16:31 GMT

Computacenter will start their SAP roadshow on Nov. 25 in Ratingen, Germany. HP, Intel, and VMware will be present. If you are interested to hear first hand about

SAP Virtualization
How to identify the right platform for SAP on VMware
Results about the SAP Virtualization project at regio IT Aachen
See Live Demos

Then you should register for this event at http://www.computacenter.de/sap-roadshow/. Please note that the presentations will be held in German.

VMware at SAP TechEd 2009 in Vienna, Austria

m@t — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:52:49 GMT

Once again, VMware will be participating in SAP TechEd 2009, the largest event for the SAP community in EMEA this year. I'd like to give you an overview of logistics and sessions about virtualization that you should not miss.

Logistics:
VMware booth No. 2.24 is located in Hall A right at the entrance to Hall A after the information counter on the left. VMware will also host Meet-The-Experts Session at the Community Clubhouse, which you can find in Hall A in front of the entrance to the keynote theatre. The schedule is listed below.

VMware Booth Highlights:
At our booth, you can get a CD with the latest and greatest information about VMware Virtualization of SAP. We will also make available the following VMware demos. Make sure you come by our booth!

Zero Downtime of SAP Central Services using VMware Fault Tolerance & Efficient
Automated SAP Disaster Recovery with VMware Site Recovery Manager.

Sessions:
The following sessions will cover VMware at SAP TechEd Vienna:

Session ID	Title	Day	Start Time	End Time	Session Type
ALM105\	SAP's Strategy for Green IT	Tuesday, October 27, 2009	11:00 a.m.	12:00 p.m.	Lecture (1 hour)
ALM101\	Overview of SAP Technology Infrastructure Update	Tuesday, October 27, 2009	4:45 p.m.	6:45 p.m.	Lecture (2 hours)
SOA225\	Automated Cost Accounting in Virtualized SAP Infrastructures/Clouds	Wednesday, October 28, 2009	8:30 a.m.	9:30 a.m.	Lecture (1 hour)
ALM126 \	Fully Automated SAP Deployments Using State-of-the-Art Virtualization Technologies	Wednesday, October 28, 2009	6:00 p.m.	7:00 p.m.	Lecture (1 hour)
ALM127 *\	TCO Reduction and Sustainability for SAP Landscapes with VMware Virtualization	Thursday, October 29, 2009	8:30 a.m.	9:30 a.m.	Lecture (1 hour)
ALM114\	Cloud Computing at SAP	Thursday, October 29, 2009	12:15 p.m.	1:15 p.m.	Lecture (1 hour)
BI224\	Cisco Unified Computing System	Thursday, October 29, 2009	12:15 p.m.	1:15 p.m.	Lecture (1 hour)
Expert Sessions* at the Community Clubhouse in Hall A
EXP 490 *\	Virtualization of SAP	Tuesday, October 27, 2009	12:30 p.m.	1:00 p.m.	Expert Networking Session
EXP432\	Implementing SAP Landscapes in a Dynamic Virtual Datacenter Using EMC Storage Technology	Tuesday, October 27, 2009	3:30 p.m.	4:00 p.m.	Expert Networking Session
EXP433	Implementing SAP Landscapes in a Dynamic Virtual Datacenter Using EMC Storage Technology	Wednesday, October 28, 2009	10:30 a.m.	11:00 a.m.	Expert Networking Session
EXP489 *	Virtualization of SAP	Wednesday, October 28, 2009	10:30 a.m.	11:00 a.m.	Expert Networking Session
EXP434	Implementing SAP Landscapes in a Dynamic Virtual Datacenter Using EMC Storage Technology	Thursday, October 29, 2009	11:00 a.m.	11:30 a.m.	Expert Networking Session
EXP491 *	Virtualization of SAP	Thursday, October 29, 2009	12:30 p.m.	1:00 p.m.	Expert Networking Session

Sessions with an * will be presented by VMware.

Also, there are a lot of very interesting presentations and demonstrations around virtualized SAP deployments by our partners,
including Cisco, EMC, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, Novell, SAP, and many others!

Follow Us on Twitter!

jorad — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:43:34 GMT

If you want to hear real-time news about "SAP on VMware", please follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SAPonVMware .

Review: VMware at DSAG Conference in Bremen, Germany

m@t — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:37:03 GMT

We were excited to see so many customers interested in SAP virtualization with VMware. After Leo Apotheker's keynote we talked to several customers at our booth who confirmed what Leo said about Virtualization being the Global Trend #1. Together with Michael Schatten, from C. ROB. Hammerstein (CRH), who is one of our key customers, I presented on TCO savings taken out of SAP landscapes by VMware. We had over 100 people in our room, and a good discussion on sizing, performance, support, and of course, TCO.

Mr. Schatten did a great job explaining why CRH migrated from an IBM midframe system to x86. As a result of their smooth replatforming project, performance and availability are better, CPU consumption is much less, and CRH achieved TCO savings of 81% compared to their previous landscape, including an ROI of only 3 months! This is fantastic! And I encourage all other customers on this platform to take a close look at our presenation, which you can find here. Then, get in touch with VMware to plan your migration project like some of our customers are already doing. It has been a great DSAG conference, and we'll be back next year.

VMware at SAP TechEd 2009 Phoenix

jorad — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:48:23 GMT

We are excited to be part of SAP TechEd Phoenix next week. If you're attending the conference this year, come by the VMware booth, no. 705, to meet the VMware SAP team and learn how the advanced features in products from SAP and VMware combine synergistically to create a powerful and sustainable business process automation system. With the introduction of powerful new features in the VMware vSphere product suite earlier this year, there has never been a better time or a better platform for virtualizing SAP solutions. Many SAP customers are already using VMware solutions to achieve cost-effective high availability, true fault tolerance, efficient, simplified disaster recovery, and lower energy consumption.

At TechEd, we've got experts with deep SAP technical expertise ready to explain how you can take virtualized SAP environments to the next level, or simply how to best get started if you are in the process of considering a virtualized SAP architecture. We will also share with you explicit customer cases documenting TCO savings of 50%-80% over three years by migrating to a virtualized SAP landscape!

But to the logistics:

Booth location: no. 705

Booth demos: Zero Downtime of SAP Central Services using VMware Fault Tolerance & Efficient, Automated SAP Disaster Recovery with VMware Site Recovery Manager

Speaking Sessions with VMware speakers, contributions, or content:
- "Virtualizing SAP in a Real-World Environment, an End User Case Study with Intel and VMware Session", Tue, Oct 13th, 11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
- "Implementing SAP Landscapes in a Dynamic Virtual Data Center Using EMC Storage Technology", Wednesday, Oct 14th, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m
- "SAP Scaling with VMware vSphere and IBM System x", Wednesday, Oct 14th, 10:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
- "Virtualizing the SAP ecosystem - Using fundamentally better solutions from HP, Novell, SAP and VMware", Thursday, Oct 15th, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

Also, there are a lot of very interesting presentations and demonstrations around virtualized SAP deployments by our partners, including SAP, Novell, HP, IBM, EMC, Texperts, and many others!

'Hope to see you there,

Joachim

SAP Virtualization at DSAG Conference in Bremen, Germany

chreis — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:34:49 GMT

At this years German SAP User Group event (Sep 29th - Oct 1st in Bremen, Germany) Leo Apotheker, CEO SAP AG, named Virtualization/Cloud Computing as #1 IT trend in his keynote on Tuesday. With about 3.000 attendees the DSAG conference is a clear leading indicator for broad adoption of vitualization into each and every SAP environment. In comparison to last year there is a clear trend to 100% virtualization.

Driving Costs Out of Your SAP Systems Landscape through Virtualization - Webinar with EMC (Thursday, Sep 17)

jorad — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:37:47 GMT

In this upcoming webinar (Thursday, September 17, 2009 - 8 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET), Jim Whalen (EMC) and I will discuss how the combination of the strengths of EMC and VMware help to achieve the highest service levels, dramatically lower costs, and unprecedented flexibility for your SAP landscapes. Discover how to transform your SAP operations, increase efficiency and responsiveness through end-to-end management, and maximize the benefits of service-oriented architecture (SOA) and service-oriented infrastructure (SOI).

You can register for the event here.

Joachim

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage for SAP System Administration - Training Now Available in the USA!

jorad — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:43:16 GMT

Great news! We are very excited to be able to offer the '"SAP on VMware" training' (properly called: "VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage for SAP System Administration") now also in the US. Many customers and partners have asked about the availability of this training, which is regularly taught as part of the SAP course catalog in EMEA, and we are very glad that we have it now scheduled at the EMC training facilities in Milford, MA and Santa Clara, CA.

The dates for the 5-day classes are:

The class consists of 32 hours of instructor-led classroom training with a 60/40 split of lecture vs. hands-on labs. Note that by visiting this workshop, participants pursuing a VMware Certified Professional (VCP) certification fulfill the seminar attendance requirement!

Description:
SAP system landscapes on virtual servers are easier to administrate, are more flexible to scale, have a higher accessibility and lower IT costs. In the AD310 workshop, system administrators can quickly and effectively learn the necessary administration know-how, and will be trained to apply this knowledge in practice. The seminar will train you in the installation, configuration and administration of VMware vSphere 4 for SAP applications. You will learn how to create virtual machines with VMware solutions, and how to dedicate the appropriate resources for a secure SAP system operation. Workshop AD310 will also show you how to configure SAP applications in an IT landscape, and how to enhance performance and accessibility.

Course Objectives

Overview of VMware vSphere
ESX Server considering SAP sizing and configuration rules
Network configuration
Memory subsystem technology, optimization of storage for SAP databases
vCenter installation
Creation and administration of virtual machines with VMware vCenter
Resource management
Administration rights management
Performance observation and console monitoring
Clustering, backups, failovers; links to High Availability options (SAP NetWeaver / VMware)
SAP landscapes in virtual machines
Troubleshooting

For more details, visit the links above!

We hope to see you there,

Joachim

New SAP SD Benchmarks with vSphere 4 show excellent scalability.

jasondinalt — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:59:02 GMT

SAP has released two SD Benchmarks based on VMware vSphere 4. The benchmark tests were performed by VMware partner Fujitsu using Intel processors and the latest SD Benchmark setup, which contains unicode, sub 1 sec. response time, and EHP 4.

Here are the results:

* The setup of one virtual machine with four vCPUs (out of 16 native threads) was able to handle 1,144 SD users with a response time of 0.97 sec., which is equivalent to 6,250 SAPS (Certification Number :2009028).

* The setup of one virtual with eight vCPUs (out of 16 native threads ) was able to handle 2,056 SD users with a response time of 0.98 sec., which is equivalent to 11,230 SAPS (Certification Number :2009029).

Currently a single virtual machine can have eight virtual CPUs, which means it only utilizes a subset of the available physical cores. Overall these results show that a single virtual machine can handle more than 11,000 SAPS with very good scaling when going from four to eight virtual CPUs.

The complete Benchmark certificates can be found at http://www.sap.com/solutions/benchmark/sd2tier.epx. Both Benchmarks were run on : SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, on VMware ESX Server 4.0 , MaxDB 7.8, SAP enhancement package 4 for SAP ERP 6.0 (Unicode), Fujitsu PRIMERGY RX300 S5, 2 Processors / 8 Cores / 16 Threads, Intel Xeon Processor X5570, 2.93 Ghz, 64 KB L1 cache and 256 KB L2 cache per core, 8 MB L3 cache per processor.

Virtualized SAP Performance with VMware vSphere 4

jorad — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:04:27 GMT

Our performance team just posted a great whitepaper on SAP performance on vSphere 4. Rather than writing a real blog summarizing the results, let me simply refer to the performance team blog entry. But the results are excellent, and there is a lot of great information!

SAP High Availability Options with VMware vSphere: From VMware HA to Fault Tolerance

jorad — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:56:48 GMT

VMware High Availability (HA) has helped our SAP customers achieve their uptime requirements and meet their target SLAs. VMware vSphere 4 introduces VMware Fault Tolerance (FT), a feature that allows a virtual machine to continue running even when the underlying physical server fails. It is a software solution that runs on commodity hardware and does not require any modifications to the guest operating system or SAP applications running inside the virtual machine. This new FT feature can provide further protection to SAP single points of failure with zero downtime. An ideal candidate for this feature is the lightweight central services component – SAP enqueue can be protected in the event of hardware failure with no loss of locks without the complexity of configuring replicated enqueue and clustering.

VMware FT and VMware HA satisfy the requirements of different HA scenarios for SAP customers. These scenarios, along with third party clustering solutions certified on VMware such as Microsoft Cluster System, are described in the paper "SAP Solutions on VMware: High Availability" which can be found here.

The paper describes and compares the different scenarios to help our customers architect highly available SAP solutions in a VMware virtualized environment.

-Vas Mitra

Updated SAP Windows Support Note for VMware vSphere Now Available (in German)

jorad — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:43:23 GMT

After updating the SAP Linux support notes 1122387 and 1122388 to reflect VMware vSphere support (see Update on support for vSphere for SAP productive systems), the updated SAP support notes 674851 and 1104578 for 'Virtualization on Windows' have now been made available as well... at least in German. (The updated English version should be available shortly). In addition to the production support for vSphere, the support notes also contain other welcome clarifications.

We will communicate the update of the English version once available. Until then: know that vSphere is supported with Windows and Linux guests, and/or make extensive use of your favorite dictionary.