The Charmer Sunbelt Group`s Virtualization Project

Orange County Convention Center
Orlando, Florida | June 3-5, 2014
The Charmer Sunbelt Group's Virtualization Project Must-Knows: Before and
After Deployment Step-by-Step Guide
ID: 0712
Presenters:
Robert Valentin, SAP Technical Architect, Charmer Sunbelt Group
James Wenger, Network Manager, Charmer Sunbelt Group
Kevin Knuese, Chief Technology Officer, Symmetry Corp.
The Charmer Sunbelt Group
 One of the top Wholesale Distributors of Wines and Spirits
 Founded in 1930’s & 1940’s
 Distribution centers in 14 States + DC
Symmetry Corporation
Quality – proactive support
delivered by US-based experts
Accessibility – 24x7 direct
access to your support team
Affordability – highly competitive,
fixed price contracts
Lifecycle Support for any SAP application on any platform combination
Implementation
Support
SAP certified
Hosting
SAP NetWeaver
/ Basis
administration
Security design
&
administration
Upgrade &
project support
LEARNING POINTS
 Virtualization for SAP
 Overarching concepts
 Real World Migration Project example
 Project considerations, "gotchas", and key decisions to
evaluate before migrating your systems and
applications
 Benefits and business motivation for virtualization
 Living with your ecosystem after deployment, including
ongoing support and future planning
LEARNING POINTS
 What virtualization means
 Separation of computer resources from the underlying
hardware resources
 Operating System
 Storage
 Network
 Combines multiple, discrete systems (images) onto
shared hardware for concurrent operation
LEARNING POINTS
 Image
 Operating System resource available for use
 Host
 Underlying hardware system an image uses for resources
 Hypervisor
 Software that allows multiple operating systems to run on a
host computer concurrently
 Cluster/Resource Pool
 Logical grouping of host systems for performance, availability,
or management reasons
LEARNING POINTS
 Array of system combination  All operating systems:
 All SAP server products
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ECC/R3
NetWeaver
Solution Manager
BW/BI
APO/SCM
Portals
SRM
CRM
XI/PI
HCM...
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Unix
Linux
iSeries/AS400
Windows
 All databases:
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Oracle
MSSQL
DB2
MAXDB
DB2/400
LEARNING POINTS
 What systems can be Virtualized
 FAQ:
 Q: Can virtualization be used for SAP system?
 A: Yes, with certain stipulations.
 A: Many OSS notes.
 Q: Does SAP support virtualization?
 A: Yes, with certain stipulations.
 A: SAP is not the only factor to consider.
 Q: What are the primary considerations?
 A: Several shown in following slides.
LEARNING POINTS
 FAQ:
 Q: How do we move physical systems to virtual systems?
 A: Using virtual and other tools.
 A: Using SAP tools.
 Q: What type of project does this represent?
 A: More significant than just a hardware migration.
 Q: How do we size a system for virtualization?
 A: Same rules apply, as well as additional OSS notes.
 Q: What will our new landscape look like?
 A: Smaller, from the server perspective
 A: Still should draw diagrams
LEARNING POINTS
 FAQ – More detail:
 Q: Does SAP support virtualization?
 A: Yes, with certain stipulations.
 A: SAP is not the only factor to consider.
 Support:
 SAP will support many systems in a virtual environment
provided you use SAP approved hardware, OS, and database
products.
 Always check that the database provider also supports
virtualization.
 In general SAP may support a system in VMware, but
Oracle may not. (note: 1173954 and others)
LEARNING POINTS
 FAQ – More Details:
 Q: Does SAP support virtualization?
 A: Yes, with certain stipulations.
 A: SAP is not the only factor to consider.
 Support:
 Fallback position
 Although unusual, if SAP is unable to debug a problem in a
instance that is virtualized, you may need to move that system to a
stand-alone, physical machine.
 If you have major concerns, it is recommended
 Place non-productive systems in virtual environments.
 Place productive systems in physical environments.
 Risk aversion vs. tool utilization and flexibility
LEARNING POINTS
 FAQ – More Details:
 Q: What are the primary considerations?
 A: Several shown in following slides.
 Considerations:
 What SAP product you intend to virtualize:
 R/3, ECC, BW, BI, APO, SCM, CRM, etc.
 Different systems will have different requirements
 Production, Development, Quality Assurance, Sandbox
 What Database product you use:
 Sybase ASE, HANA, Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, SAPDB
LEARNING POINTS
 FAQ – More Details:
 Q: How do we move physical systems to virtual systems?
 A: Using virtual and other tools.
 A: Using SAP tools.
 Details:
 VMware makes conversion tools that are capable of
moving a physical system to a virtual system.
 Other tools are available that are capable of replicating
images from one machine to another.
 Recommended method is to use SAP tools to process a
homogeneous system migration. Using this method will
facilitate SAP support.
LEARNING POINTS
 FAQ – More Details:
 Q: What type of project does this represent?
 A: Fairly significant.
 Details:
 Whether you intend to consolidate your systems on new
hardware, or are deploying SAP for the first time in virtual
environments, a well planned project is vital for success.
 Migration project
 Implementation project
 Your project should include much in the way of:
 Documentation
 Communication
 Personnel
 SAP validation of support prior to beginning the project.
LEARNING POINTS
 The Project
 Project Plan
 Scoping Plan
 The Project
 Research
 OSS Notes
LEARNING POINTS
 The Project
 Before
 The Project
 After
Questions…
The Charmer Sunbelt Group
 Charmer Sunbelt Group
 Performed a migration of their SAP systems from physical to virtual
environment
 Robert Valentin, SAP Technical Architect
 James Wenger, Network Manager
Questions for audience
 How many of you are currently using virtualization
technology?
 How many are planning on virtualizing in the next
12 months?
LEARNING POINTS
 Project considerations
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Budget
Time
Physical vs. virtual servers
Team skill set
Server replication technology for disaster recovery
LEARNING POINTS
 Project considerations (continued)
SAP ECC 6
Windows/SQL
Server 2008 R2
VMware 5.1
LEARNING POINTS
 Project considerations (continued)
SAP ECC 6
Windows/SQL Server 2008 R2
Optimized VMware 5.1config
Network config
Optimized SAN config
LEARNING POINTS
 Project considerations (continued)
SAP Basis Administrator
Database Administrator
Network Administrator
VMware Administrator
SAN Administrator
LEARNING POINTS
 Project considerations (continued)
Database Administrator
SAP Basis Administrator
VMware Administrator
Network Administrator SAN Administrator
LEARNING POINTS
 Benefits and business motivation for virtualization
 High Availability
 Easier and quicker Disaster Recovery
 Compatibility with
replication technology
 Ease of adding servers
 Flexibility
LEARNING POINTS
 Downsides of virtualization
 Troubleshooting performance issue is more difficult
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VMware
Windows
SAP ECC
SAP Solution Manager
IBM SAN tools
Server RAM and CPU overhead about 5-10%
Disk latency overhead is between 10-20%
Additional tier to manage
Identifying and Understanding
SAP “Best Practices”
LEARNING POINTS
 Living with your ecosystem after deployment
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SAP Early Watch Reports
SAP Solution Manager Technical Monitoring
Monitoring systems
SAP Virtualization Health Check Report by SAP / VMware
LEARNING POINTS
 Living with your ecosystem after deployment (continued)
 SAP Virtualization Health Check Report by SAP / VMware
 SAP
 Application server profile parameters
 Notes to install
 Database
 SQL Server configuration settings
 Suggestions on disk layout of files
 Network/VMware
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Datastore size and configuration
Virtual Network Interface Card type and settings
SCSI type and settings
ETC…
BEST PRACTICES
 SAP Sizing for landscape
 Virtualize other tiers of landscape (development,
test, etc) and test there first
 Use white papers, notes and documentation from
vendors
 Prepare, prepare, prepare
Question for audience
 How do seek out and implement “Best Practices” of SAP for
your systems?
Online Resources
 SAP Notes (140+ notes on VMware on Marketplace SAP)
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1409608 - Virtualization on Windows
1492000 - General Support Statement for Virtual Environments
1056052 - Windows: VMware vSphere configuration guidelines
1158363 - VMware Performance Snapshot
1374671 - High Availability in Virtual Environment on Windows
1409604 - Virtualization on Windows: Enhanced monitoring
1482272 - Key Figures of Virtualization on VMware vSphere
 VMware white paper
 https://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/solutions/sap/SAP-Solutions-on-VMware-BestPractices-Guide.pdf
 Virtualization of SAP Applications with VMware vSphere 5 on IBM eX5 enterprise
systems
 http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/vmw-sap-virtualization-esx5-ibm-systemx.pdf
Your Turn!
Any Questions??
Contact Us
 Robert Valentin: SAP Technical Architect
 [email protected]
 James Wegner: Network Manager
 [email protected]
 Kevin Knuese: Chief Technology Officer
 [email protected]
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SESSION CODE: 0712
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