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Recommendations for a specific case
Hello,
My customer is running SAP ERP on physical servers. The data resides on DMX-4 array and it is replicated to a remote location via RecoverPoint CRR. The DB is SQL Server 2008 R2 x64 SP1 running on two clustered Windows 2008 R2 X64 SP1 servers. They already use TimeFinder Clone and Snapshot via Replication Manager. Their backups are in good order.
The servers are HP DL980 G7 (80 core CPU, 1 TB memory). The SAP ERP data is on 16 LUNs spread over 320 FC disks on the DMX4.
The applications servers are 6 blade servers (HP BL460)
The remote storage array is a VNX5700
I am asked what else EMC can offer for their SAP environment. I could think of the following. And I would like to find out your comments, ideas, remarks etc.
1 - Move the current DMX-4 to DR (replacing VNX5700). Install VMAX for production, add a few SSD disks and use FASTVP.
2 - Completely virtualize the environment (but does SAP recomments running on vSphere 4 ?)
3 - Use VFCache (when it supports clustering)
Any pointers ?
Thanks,
Cenk Ersoy
Jingyi1
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February 28th, 2012 00:00
ersoyc, here are some thoughts:
1. After introducing VMAX and moving DMX4 to DR, replace recoverpoint with SRDF. SRDF is more mature and reliable replication technology.
2. Use VPLEX so that you have a shorter fail over time if Production site fails. And you can move some hosts to DR to achieve Application and Host HA.
3. I will definitely give a try on FAST VP and SAP virtulization. You can refer to the proven solution of how FAST and Virtualized structure help SAP. http://powerlink.emc.com/km/appmanager/km/secureDesktop?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=default&internalId=0b014066804dac16&_irrt=true
Anonymous
274.2K Posts
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March 2nd, 2012 08:00
Cenk,
SAP supports VMware platform for a very long time (from ESX 3.5). You can absolutely recommend your cusotmer to move their SAP environment to virtual infrastructure. with vSphere 5.0, each VM's capacity is greatly enhanced (up to 32 vCPUs and 1TB RAM) and thus can support more performance demanding SAP systems.
SAP Note 1122388 - Linux: VMware vSphere configuration guidelines and SAP Note 1056052 - Windows: VMware vSphere configuration guidelines indicates VMware vSphere 5.0 is supported.
Jingyi1
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March 20th, 2012 19:00
Another thought just comes into my mind. EMC and SAP are working together on vblock-like SAP specific appliance which is not a secret. I guess your customer may be interested to change their current infrastrcture to the EMC and SAP (Cisco, VMware, maybe) Validated unified appliance. How does it sound like?
LouisLu
161 Posts
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March 21st, 2012 01:00
When Jingyi metions vblock-like SAP solution, the white paper VBLOCK SOLUTION FOR SAP first comes out to my brain. You can leverage advantageds from vblock features.
Recently I also read a blog on VFCache supported SQL2012 & SQL2008(Lightning Strikes Again for SQL Server 2012!
). I believe the OLTP will get much improvement from VFCache. Meanwhile, it will promote SAP ERP performance.
Anonymous
274.2K Posts
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March 21st, 2012 02:00
Hi,
The appliance approach seems interesting. Where can I find more info ?
LouisLu
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March 21st, 2012 02:00
These testing results, along with the testing methodology and key performance indicators, can be found in the Vblock Solution for SAP: Use Case Performance and Results white paper available on http://www.vce.com. Usually, we get the information on VBLOCK from http://www.vce.com. We also work in SAP sizing involved with VCE guys sometimes.