FUJITSU LIMITED

Microsoft Co., Ltd. Japan

SAP Japan Co., Ltd.

Three-company Joint Verification Project

Next-generation data center solutions for optimizing SAP system operation

Microsoft SAP Competence CenterMicrosoft Co., Ltd. JapanOdakyu Southern Tower2-2-1 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-8583 JapanPhone: +81-3-5334-9280 http://www.ms-sap.com/

SAP Japan Co., Ltd.

Tokyo Sankei Building1-7-2 Ote-machi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0004 JapanPhone: +81-3-3273-3333 (operator)http://www.sap.com/japan/

Fujitsu SAP Competence CenterFUJITSU LIMITEDWorld Trade Center Building2-4-1 Hamamatsu-cho, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-6125 JapanPhone: +81-3-5401-7006http://segroup.fujitsu.com/sap/

Microsoft, Active Directory, Hyper-V, SQL Server, Windows, and Windows Server are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or its affiliates and subsidiaries.

SAP, the SAP logo, mySAP, SAP NetWeaver, and other SAP products are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and other countries.

Other company and product names cited in this case study are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies. TC0010 April 2010

PRIME3PROJECT Ⅲ

PRIME3

Fujitsu, Microsoft, and SAP Japan havebeen involved in the PRIME 3 joint veri-fication project, which seeks to optimizeSAP systems, since 2006. The project,which is geared to pursue what the com-panies term “PRIME” (in the sense of“ultimate”) capability from the three per-spectives of reliability (guaranteeingbusiness continuity), performance (pro-viding a stable operating environment),and operability (enabling flexible accom-modation of change), conducts verifica-tion experiments that combine state-of-the-art technologies in order to resolveissues with SAP system operation.

Project I, which was conducted in 2006,

verified full ERP redundancy by usingclustering and database mirroring toduplicate hardware, databases, and SAPinstances. Project II, which was conduct-ed in 2008, set out to spearhead the com-mercialization of virtualization technolo-gy around Hyper-V™ as implemented inMicrosoft® Windows Server® 2008. Theproject made a case for the utility ofserver integration using virtualizationdesigned to production environment stan-dards by combining the technology withPRIMERGY Servers.

Project III, described in this case study,consisted of a verification experimentpredicated on the requirements posed bythe operation of a sophisticated data cen-ter. Built on the mission-critical reliabili-ty and expandability offered by the latestPRIMEQUEST 1000 series, which was

released in March 2010, it combinesETERNUS Disk Storage Systems withWindows Server 2008 R2 andMicrosoft® SQL Server® 2008.

Broadly speaking, the project targetedthree areas. First, it sought to verify theadditional utility of server integrationusing the evolved Hyper-V 2.0 virtual-ization technologies built into WindowsServer 2008 R2. Verifications in this areaincluded an evaluation of scalabilityusing Hyper-V 2.0 as well as the buildingof a downtime-less cluster environmentusing Live Migration, a new feature ofWindows Server 2008 R2.

Second, it sought to verify business con-tinuity and disaster contingency planningusing geo-clustering, a technology foroperating a geographically dispersedenvironment on a single cluster.

Third, it sought to evaluate the utility ofnew data compression functionalityimplemented by SQL Server 2008.

Describing the key components of theproject, Tetsuya Kawahara of FujitsuLimited’s Fujitsu SAP Competence Cen-ter says, “Whereas our previous projectshave consisted of evaluating and verify-ing a single function, this project soughtto systematize mechanisms capable ofbeing used in the operation of a sophisti-cated data center as a solution. To thatend, we prepared an environment that

brought together a number of state-of-the-art technologies and conducted a ver-ification targeting multiple areas of sys-tem operation.”

All of the areas targeted by this verifica-tion project were based on specific issuesexperienced by customers operating SAPsystems in their day-to-day businesses.The team describes how, as a result ofholding a variety of discussions duringthe preparatory phase of the project, theyopted to select areas assuming a broadrange of customer issues instead of nar-rowing down the objective to certainfunctions.

Takayuki Hoshino of the Global PartnerBusiness Department at Microsoft Co.,Ltd. Japan’s Enterprise Partner BusinessDivision observes, “In an actual businessthat has consolidated numerous businessprocesses in its enterprise system, thequestion of how best to avoid the loss ofbusiness opportunities due to systemdowntime and other risks is a seriousissue. On the one hand, for system opera-tions and administrative staff, the prolif-eration of servers in distributed environ-ments and associated operating costs aremajor issues. Additionally, reduced per-formance as hardware ages is an area of

concern. Exploding data volume has ledto a marked increase in storage costs andbackup load. Furthermore, from thestandpoint of business continuity plan-ning (BCP), the threat from natural disas-ters such as earthquakes and typhoons isrising.”

Based on this background, the verifica-tion project’s three target areas—(1)more sophisticated server integrationusing virtualization, (2) disaster contin-gency planning and the assurance ofbusiness continuity through geo-cluster-ing, and (3) data compression as a tech-nique for streamlining hardware resourceutilization (storage operation)—attract anextremely high level of interest from cus-tomers.

The PRIMEQUEST 1000 series ofservers featuring dramatically enhancedmission-critical performance played asignificant role in this verification proj-ect. Built around the Intel® Xeon® 7500processor and incorporating support forWindows Server and other standard openarchitectures, the PRIMEQUEST 1000series supports the following functionsand performance as a line of open mis-sion-critical servers that brings togetherhigh-availability technologies Fujitsu

developed through its experience withmainframes:•Redundancy of server components•Flexible I/O functionality and automaticrecovery using Reserve system board•Highly flexible hardware partition func-tionality•Affinity with virtualization software•Scalability to a maximum of 64 cores

Addressing expectations concerning theevolution of server hardware along theselines, Director Shuji Watanabe of theGlobal Ecosystem & Partner Group atthe Co-Innovation Lab Tokyo, PDMSHardware and OS Competence Center,SAP Japan, observes, “Remarkableprogress in hardware performance overthe last several years is reflected clearlyin certification benchmark results usingSAP SD (Sales and Distribution). Thehigh processing throughput of thePRIMEQUEST 1000 series used in thisproject allows it to reach 16,000 users inthe two-layer SAP SD benchmark test, aworld record for a server running Win-dows Server (as of Mach 31, 2010). Thisfigure demonstrates a level of perform-ance that is better than the 600 usersachieved in 1996 by a factor of about 27.Widespread use of virtualization technol-ogy is driving a trend toward consolida-tion in the hardware that supports enter-prise systems. There is no doubt that theneed to support such environments willdemand new evolution in the hardware.”

2 3

A joint Fujitsu, Microsoft, and SAP verification project utilizesthe latest hardware platform and software.

Systematizing the Operation of SAPSystem Data Centers as a Solution byCombining the Latest Technologies

The PRIME 3 joint verification project seeks to optimize SAP systems from the three perspectives of reli-ability, performance, and operability. This iteration, the project’s third, consisted of a verification tar-geting multiple areas of system operation—(1) better utilization of evolving virtualization technologies,(2) disaster contingency planning and the assurance of business continuity, and (3) streamlining of stor-age operation through the use of data compression technology—based on actual issues faced by cus-tomers using SAP systems. The project’s platform consisted of Mission Critcal IA server PRIMEQUEST andETERNUS Disk Storage Systems. Ultimately, it proposed a new solution that takes into account thesophisticated requirements that come into play in the operation of enterprise system data centers.

PRIME3Three-company Joint Verification Project

PROJECT Ⅲ

Tetsuya Kawahara

SAP Certified Technology ConsultantFujitsu SAP Competence CenterFujitsu Limited

Takayuki Hoshino

Global Partner Business DepartmentEnterprise Partner Business DivisionMicrosoft Co. Ltd. Japan

Shuji Watanabe

Director, Global Ecosystem & Partner GroupCo-Innovation Lab TokyoPDMS Hardware and OS Competence CenterSAP Japan Co., Ltd.

Primary site

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possible using the recovery site in the event of a disaster

since no system rebuild is necessary.

Disk Storage Systems Disk Storage Systems

�Figure 1. Data Center Solution Model for SAP

A new challenge for PRIME 3: SAP system optimization

Support for the evolution of virtualization technology by the latest server platforms

Identifying a broad range of verification topics based on customer issues

This project, which was based on specificcustomer needs, was significant foranother reason.

“The project was conducted from Decem-ber 2009 to February 2010, just prior tothe official release of the PRIMEQUEST1000 series,” says Fujitsu’s Kawahara.“Another important project goal was tooffer customers a high level of reliabilitybased on sound benchmarks by conducinga multifaceted verification of the latesttechnology prior to its shipment.”

There has already been a significantamount of reaction from various quartersto the results of the project, which wasconducted in accordance with the targetareas described below. The project isalready yielding a variety of benefits forsites using SAP systems.

[Objective]The PRIMEQUEST 1000 series offersdramatically enhanced functionality as amission-critical, next-generation environ-ment capable of withstanding the demandsof virtual server consolidation. The scala-bility enabled by Hyper-V 2.0, whichships standard with Windows Server 2008R2, offers major advantages in terms ofreducing server proliferation and stream-lining operations. This area of the projectsought to ascertain the number of virtualservers that could be operated and theirspecifications based on the assumptionthat the SAP system application serverand peripheral servers would be virtual-ized on a PRIMEQUEST servers.

[Verification method]Investigators added a total of seven virtu-al servers, each with 4 CPU cores and 8

GB of memory, to a single 16-core, 64GB physical server using Hyper-V 2.0one at a time while checking perform-ance as the servers operated simultane-ously. In terms of benchmark measure-ment, they investigated the performancebranch point while loading the serverswith the SAP SD benchmark toolkit.

[Verification results]The team found that CPU utilization onthe physical server scaled up in directproportion to the number of virtualservers operating simultaneously. Theyalso found that the SAP system’ sresponse time exhibited a stable level ofperformance, regardless of the number ofvirtual servers operating. They found thatthe system exhibited stable operationwith no deterioration in performancewith average CPU utilization of 40% to50%, even when the total number of vir-tual server CPUs exceeded the number ofphysical CPUs (see Figure 2).

[Evaluation]Based on the fact that the PRIMEQUEST1000 series can be scaled to a maximumof 64 cores, the team verified that theequivalent number of virtual servers canoperate simultaneously at a stable levelof performance while maintaining theSAP guideline of 65% CPU utilization.This finding indicates that servers usedon an infrequent basis, for examplemachines used in verification or develop-ment work, can be consolidated withoutobserving the conventional theory requir-ing that the total number of virtual serverCPUs be less than the number of physicalCPUs. It also demonstrates the possibili-ty of more efficient sizing from the stand-point of effective resource utilization.

[Objective]Live Migration, a new function shippingwith Windows Server 2008 R2, allowsvirtual servers to be moved quicklybetween cluster nodes while operating.The function can be used to move anoperating virtual server to a differentphysical server while remaining online(without stopping its operation). In thisarea, the verification project sought toverify whether it is actually possible tomove servers between nodes in a down-time-less manner using Live Migration.The team also assessed design guidelinesfor cluster shared volumes.

[Verification method]Investigators built a SAP system in anenvironment combining a two-nodeMicrosoft Failover Cluster (MSFC) andHyper-V 2.0. They then performed afailover from a client while executing theSAP SD benchmark and verified the con-tinuity of processing.

[Verification results]The team verified that performing thefailover while the SAP SD benchmarkwas executing caused no interruption inthe session and that transactions werehanded over seamlessly. While the trans-fer time as seen from the systemincreased in proportion to the memory ofthe virtual server, investigators foundthat the transfer time from the user’s per-spective was effectively zero.

[Evaluation]Whereas the number of virtual serversthat could be created was limited by thenumber of drive letters under Hyper-V1.0 due to its limitation of one virtualmachine per LUN—a limitation thatnecessitated complex LUN manage-ment—Hyper-V 2.0’s implementation ofcluster shared volumes makes it possibleto manage just one location, dramaticallyimproving the ease and flexibility ofdesign and management. The new proce-dure is extremely simple: (1) enable clus-ter shared volumes and (2) add a storageregion. Since mount and unmountingprocedures are no longer necessary, it isnow possible to achieve zero-downtimeLive Migration execution.

[Objective]Failover clustering is a key WindowsServer platform function that improvesserver availability. In this area, the proj-ect sought to verify the practicality of adisaster contingency planning systembetween remote sites using geo-cluster-ing combining the ETERNUS Disk Stor-age System’s Remote Advanced Copyfunction (REC: Remote EquivalentCopy) with MSFC, which implementsclustering with Windows Server. MSFCprovides functionality for grouping andoperating multiple Windows Serverimplementations as a single server usingan active/passive architecture in whichone machine serves as the operating serv-er and the rest serve as recovery servers.

In the event that the operating serverexperiences a problem, it is automaticallydetected and operation switched to arecovery server, providing continuity ofbusiness operations. The project verifiedimproved fault tolerance when using thisfunctionality for clustering betweenremote sites from the two standpoints ofdisaster contingency planning and busi-ness continuity.

[Verification method]The team built a pseudo-SAP systemrunning on a remote site cluster systembased on a majority node set consistingof three nodes on PRIMEQUEST 1000series hardware (two primary sites andone recovery site).

They then failed over the SAP systemwhile using an IP network simulator togenerate a fixed load and delay on the

Verification Project Details

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Verifying the utility of systems based on MissionCritical IA server PRIMEQUEST in virtualizationand disaster contingency planning from a multifaceted perspective

Approach promises benefits for cloud computing such asgeo-clustering and streamlining of storage operation.

�Figure 2. Hyper-V 2.0 Scalability

�Figure 3. Verification Environment Logical Architecture and SAP Instance Architecture

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Exceptional scalability providedby Hyper-V 2.01

PRIME3Three-company Joint Verification Project

PROJECT Ⅲ

Conducting benchmark tests inadvance of the product release

Utility of Live Migration2

Disaster contingency using geo-clustering3

stand up to the demands of sophisticatedvirtualization environments. Additional-ly, the team was able to present clearmechanisms concerning disaster contin-gency planning and the assurance ofbusiness continuity, both up-and-comingissues for SAP systems.

Summarizing the project, Microsoft’sHoshino observes, “PRIME 3 has soughtto optimize SAP systems from the threestandpoints of reliability, performance,and operability, and I believe thatthrough the results of this verificationproject we have described new approach-

es in terms of infrastructure from each ofthese perspectives. As a result, I expectto see dramatic changes in server archi-tecture itself.”

SAP Japan’s Watanabe makes a similarassessment, noting, “The remarkablething about this project is that itapproached the customer’s perspectivemore closely, going beyond technicalverification to present its results in theform of a solution. I also feel that it hashad a real impact in the sense that if nec-essary, that solution is ready for immedi-ate use.”

In combining the latest technologies ofthe three partner companies, PRIME 3Project III has shown significant resultsin exploring the latent potential of SAPsystems for next-generation applications,an accomplishment that is reflected in theassessment of Fujitsu’s Kawahara thatthe project “has made progress towardpioneering true cloud computing” bydeveloping an environment in which thenecessary resources can be utilized withflexibility on an as-needed basis.

Verification Project Details

The JSUG Technical Working Group isa community of individuals who workwith SAP systems. Currently, its prin-cipal activities center on topics such asservice-oriented architecture in theform of basic technologies andapproaches for more effectively utiliz-ing SAP NetWeaver and SAP ERP,both software packages to which newtechnical elements are being continu-ously added, and the utilization of SAPSolution Manager, which supports thelife cycles of increasingly complex andsophis t icated systems. We’ re alsopreparing ini t ia t ives concerningresearch into SAP BusinessObjectsproducts, which have been the focus ofattention as means for improving busi-nesses’ ability to deal with change.

Training sessions among companiesusing these systems are not sufficientlyeffective as a method for honing practi-cal ability to make use of new tech-nologies. We look forward to activelycultivating partnerships, and there aremany areas where we expect supportfrom corporate partners, especiallyfrom hardware, operating system, and

database vendors.

A variety of joint experiments combin-ing different companies’ new technolo-gies and products are being conductedby corporate partners like these. Forexample, the consolidation of serversusing virtualization is precisely the sortof topic that most attracts our interest,and it would be extremely meaningfulfor companies using these systems ifcorporate partners could provide clearbenchmarks based on joint experimentswhen they make new IT investmentsand deploy new products.

We can enhance SAP systems to makethem practical solutions despite theiradvanced characteristics by carrying ona l ively discussion that takes intoaccount the full range of advice provid-ed by corporate partners. Furthermore,it would be extremely advantageous ifwe could put in place a cycle by whichfeedback concerning new problems andissues arising as users grapple withchallenging realities in the field can beprovided to corporate partners.

The question of how to best addressissues such as disaster contingencyplanning and business continuity fre-quently arises in the course of workinggroup discussions. We also have highexpectations concerning the role of cor-porate partners in this area, since theyare in regular contact with companiesusing these systems.

Starting this fiscal year, JSUG hasadopted a new message with “TeamJapan” as its watchword. JSUG’s pur-pose lies in helping member companiesthat share SAP as a “common lan-guage” support one another, therebyimproving the corporate value of each.Taking this role to its logical conclu-sion, the support of the corporate part-ners that are JSUG’s supporting mem-bers—including SAP, of course, aswell as hardware, operating system,and database vendors, and others—iscritical. In the future, I look forward topursuing mutually beneficial JSUGactivities together with our corporatepartners through a variety of programsthat encourage the exchange of ideas.

Kenji MatsuiDirector, Business Planning DepartmentNTT Data Wave Corporation

Executive Director and Technical Working Group Chairman,Japan SAP Users’ Group (JSUG)

On expectations for clear benchmarks based on jointverification of new technologies such as virtualization

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�Figure 4. Data Compression Rates and Their Effect on Performance

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PRIME3Three-company Joint Verification Project

PROJECT Ⅲ

Data compression technology forstreamlining storage operation4

network. They also established SAP WebAS ABAP and SAP Web AS Java multi-SID installation procedures in the clusterenvironment. At the same time, the teamverified the consistency of the recoverysite’ s database when the disasteroccurred using the REC asynchronousconsistency mode provided by theETERNUS Disk storage Systems. Theverification process assumed use of aninexpensive business Ethernet environ-ment for the network linking the remotesites (see Figure 3).

[Verification results]The project was able to confirm a recov-ery time objective (RTO) of about 10minutes (1 to 2 minutes for REC sessionsuspension, 4 to 5 minutes for the forcedcluster startup, and several minutes forthe SAP system startup), indicating a fastrecovery compared to disaster contin-gency planning solutions implementedusing conventional means such as logshipping. The team found that businessoperations could be continued in opera-tional, reliability, and performance test-ing due to the fact that the REC asyn-chronous consistency mode maintaineddatabase consistency on the recovery siteby ensuring the sequence integrity of thedata being copied to the recovery site.

[Evaluation]The team found that the use of thefailover clustering function that shipsstandard with Windows Server makes itpossible to apply the same approach usedin the design, operation, and maintenanceof normal clusters, enabling rapid recov-ery by means of a simple procedure andhelping to reduce TCO.

[Objective]Data volume in SAP systems tends toincrease steadily for reasons includingthe expansion of peripheral systems, theaddition of new users, and the uniqueimportance of backups in mission-criticalsystems. Data compression functionality,a new feature that ships standard withSQL Server 2008, provides a usefulmeans of lessening the resulting heavyload on storage subsystems. The functionprovides both line and page compression,and line compression is enabled bydefault in new SAP system installations.This area of the verification project veri-fied the actual compression ratioachieved when operating the SAP systemand other factors such as the effect ofdata compression on performance usingthe SAP SD benchmark based on a sce-nario where data compression functional-ity helps reduce steadily increasing stor-age costs.

[Verification method]After building an SAP SD benchmarkenvironment, investigators performed abenchmark with the same load after set-ting primary SD (Sales and Distribution)tables to no compression, line compres-sion, and page compression to measurethe effect on performance and CPU uti-lization.

[Verification results]The team achieved compression rates forSD tables of 14.3% to 40% (using linecompression) and from 84.6% to a maxi-

mum of 88% (using page compression)compared to uncompressed operation.They found almost no effect on responsetimes for either line or page compression(see Figure 4). Compared to CPU utiliza-tion of about 60% with no compression,investigators confirmed increases of 5%and 7% when using line compression andpage compression, respectively.

[Evaluation]The team found that the data compres-sion functionality provided by SQL Serv-er 2008 could be used to dramaticallyreduce storage costs with no detrimentaleffect on performance. This ability willincrease the number of backup genera-tions that can be maintained and simplifysupport for Unicode, which will necessi-tate an increase in data volume. Further-more, data compression means shorterbackup times. Going forward, the tech-nology is expected to be effective inareas such as disaster contingency plan-ning solutions.

The results of this verification projectoffer a number of valuable pointers as tohow next-generation SAP systems willoperate. The first concerns the role ofhardware in making full use of virtualiza-tion technology. Thanks to its evolution,the use of virtualization technology inSAP system production environments isfinally a real possibility. The results ofthis verification project provide a clearindication that the PRIMEQUEST 1000series delivers performance that can

Proposing new solutions forcloud computing