Last month ashishc.morzaria provided a webcast on BI4 sizing (I recall it was through the SAP Support Academy). You can view a full recording of the webcast here (SMP logon required). Thanks to stephanie.redivo for finding the recording for me.
The purpose of the webcast was how size and think about BI deployment. The regular disclaimer applies; this is for educational purposes only but not make decisions based on this webinar. Please also note these are my notes only and for more information go to the BI4 Sizing site or listen to the webcast.
Figure 1: Source: SAP
Figure 1 shows the agenda; note that my notes really only cover bullet points 1 and 2.
Figure 2: Source: SAP
Figure 2 shows that BI4 is different that 3.1
It is has changed to being a component of a larger landscape
It is more dependent around things that are around the system
Server is different; increased server density, RAM, virtualization and can now process more data than before
New licensing model CSBL you do not have to worry about CPU costs
Figure 3: Source: SAP
BI4 is not just a technical upgrade; it is 64 bit
BOE 3.1 was squeezed into a 32 bit architecture
BI4 is designed to take advantage of hardware, designed for modern architecture
BI4 is the first suite under the “SAP” banner
It has new components for Analysis, native BW connectivity
All of these things lead to a new BI4 system
Figure 4: Source: SAP
Figure 4 shows that the Adaptive Processing Services (APS) is new in BI4
It allows hosting for a number of services simultaneously
Default install will include APS but it may not be configured or sized the way you need
For production the default install is not what you want and a single node may not work
Required reading is the sizing guide and the BI Platform install guide.
Figure 5: Source: SAP
Figure 5 gives the URL for “everything you need”.
This is the microsite created specifically for sizing and points to SCN and white papers, link, BI4 sizing estimator
This site ( sap.com/bisizing) will be living/updated
Figure 6: Source: SAP
You need an IT professional to install BI4
You also need to take a number of things into account
Quick Sizer does not take into account everything
SAP wants you to use BI4 Sizing estimator because BI4 is a different “beast”
You want to perform for the future
It is easy to underestimate; need to scale out and understand what the numbers are and plan for headroom – plan for the future, better used and more used
Figure 7: Source: SAP
How your system performs – begin with external systems connecting to your system
CMS database latencies will put delays
Input/Output bottlenecks with underperforming file servers – systems slow down for no perceivable reason
SAP says to patch BW systems to get performance improvements
Ashish said to understand pathways for virtualization help as they will impact you
Figure 8: Source: SAP
Almost every production deployment is a multi-node one. Architect for now and scale for growth
Ashish says start with a small landscape and scale up; it is easier to find bottlenecks that way
It is not a question of hardware but good architecture
Figure 9: Source: SAP
Figure 9 shows the sizing estimator – result of benchmarks done internally to SAP
It tries to straddle how size BI system and the way SAP sizes their own system
SAPS – SAP standard metric – the performance described in Figure 9. SAPS focuses more on processing performance
It is an estimator not an analyzer. Ashish says do analysis.
It does not know how many nodes you will deploy.
Ashish says they cannot test entire spectrum from small to large; need to apply architecture after looking at results.
Figure 10: Source: SAP
Ashish said to understand terms
Active users are the number of users logged on system – they may not be doing anything
Rule of thumb is 10% of total users
Active Concurrent are users logged in and actively doing something – running a report/query – 10%
Understand what the right inputs are; need to revisit the 10% number
Figure 11: Source: SAP
Figure 11 shows the Report Sizes – different report sizes
If your report sizes are different than what is documented in the BI Sizing Companion guide you will need to adjust
You should review reports per content type
You should also review the workflows and the impact on sizing
Figure 12: Source: SAP
Figure 12 shows the user categories - for example – consumers look at the results
Business Users do a moderate amount of drilling
Expert users perform ad hoc analysis, changing report, large amounts of queries – may create more workload
This is the general idea, not hard and fast rule
Figure 13: Source: SAP
Everything discussed is in the BI4 Sizing Guide
Examples are in the sizing guide
I encourage you to watch the rest of the webcast yourself to review the sizing scenarios.
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