5 Replies Latest reply: Jan 11, 2012 5:48 PM by Diego I. Yaryura RSS

what is the difference between normal Kernel 7.20 and the Kernel 7.20 EXT

Christoph Ostrop
Currently Being Moderated

what is the difference between the normal Kernel 7.20 and the Kernel 7.20 EXT

 

and please, do not post only a link to sap-note 1553300 or 1553301 ,

unfortunately, there's a lot of vaguely and unclear text in these sap notes, but

nothing that describes the difference between the "normal" and the "extended" kernel,

 

is EXT only another word for downward-compatible Kernel or is it more than this?

 

any helpful and understandable explanation of the difference? "normal" Kernel 7.20 and the Kernel 7.20 EXT

  • Re: what is the difference between normal Kernel 7.20 and the Kernel 7.20 EXT
    Nils Buerckel
    Currently Being Moderated

    Hi,

    please check SAP note 1591607.

    Kernel 7.20_EXT is a  MUST for SAP Netweaver 7.03 /  7.31.

    However it is also downward compatible to NW releases listed in SAP note 1553300.

    Best regards,

    Nils Buerckel

    • Re: what is the difference between normal Kernel 7.20 and the Kernel 7.20 EXT
      Christoph Ostrop
      Currently Being Moderated

      sorry, but this answer is not helpful,

      what is the difference between normal Kernel 7.20 and the Kernel 7.20 EXT

      isn't it possible to describe this in understandable words ....

      • Re: what is the difference between normal Kernel 7.20 and the Kernel 7.20 EXT
        Olivier CHRETIEN
        Currently Being Moderated
        Christoph Ostrop wrote:

         

        > isn't it possible to describe this in understandable words ....

         

        [Mode sarcastic on]

        You're speaking about SAP technology..

        If it was too easy to understand, how would you justify the high consulting costs ?    

        [Mode sarcastic off]

         

        That said, I agree that the explanations are absolutely not clear.

        The kernel releases are now a mess. We were used to higher releases of kernels against abap releases.

        Kernel 6.40 used for WAS 6.20 for exemple.

        But using a Kernel 7.20 for Netweaver 7.30 is just silly.

         

        Until clear explanations, I will not use kernel 7.20EXT on my systems...

         

        Regards,

        Olivier

      • Re: what is the difference between normal Kernel 7.20 and the Kernel 7.20 EXT
        Markus Doehr
        Currently Being Moderated

        > sorry, but this answer is not helpful,

        > what is the difference between normal Kernel 7.20 and the Kernel 7.20 EXT

        > isn't it possible to describe this in understandable words ....

         

        Note 1553300 - 7.20 EXT Kernel - Extended Kernel Maintenance

         

        <...>
        When the OS or the compiler which are used during the builds 
        run out of vendor support customers could run into a support problem.
         SAP therfore needs to provide a newer kernel which is built 
        with the newer / supported version of the OS and compiler
        <...>

         

        So basically this means that the kernel 720_EXT is the same as 720 aside from the fact, that is was built using newer compilers - and hence may require newer runtimes on the operating systems.

         

         

        Markus

      • Re: what is the difference between normal Kernel 7.20 and the Kernel 7.20 EXT
        Diego I. Yaryura
        Currently Being Moderated

        Christoph,

         

        Recheck the note mentioned earlier (1553300):

         

        "SAP Kernels are built on a specific version of the Operating System and compiler.

        When the OS or the compiler which are used during the builds run out of vendor support customers could run into a support problem. SAP therfore needs to provide a newer kernel which is built with the newer / supported version of the OS and compiler.

        Against this background, an update of the SAP kernel make environment is required from time to time resulting in newer kernels being made available for the customer. Using these newer kernels ensures that customers can operate a fully supported environment at all times.

        From a compliance perspective it is important that a customer environment is a fully supported one. Some of the compliance regulations (SOX, FDA) also require that customers use supported software environments."

         

        Then, the difference is that the EXT kernels are compiled in a fully supported environment (OS and DB).

         

        Cheers,

        Diego.