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SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3: If, When, and How to Upgrade. Dr. Bjarne Berg COMERIT. In This Session …. In this session, we’ll take a look at the major new features of SAP NetWeaver ® BW 7.3
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SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3: If, When, and How to Upgrade Dr. Bjarne Berg COMERIT
In This Session … • In this session, we’ll take a look at the major new features of SAP NetWeaver® BW 7.3 • We’ll also examine the new upgrade tools and take a step-by-step look at what is required to upgrade an SAP NetWeaver BW system to version 7.3 • Finally, we’ll look at an example of how to minimize upgrade risks while also changing the hardware during the upgrade Worth Pondering: System complexity is increasing, while attention spans are decreasing
What We’ll Cover … • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 Overview • New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities • The New Semantic Partition (SPO) Options • The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data • Faster Data Load and New Design Options • Front-End and Security Benefits • New In-Memory Possibilities with SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.2 • Planning and Executing the Upgrade • Wrap-up
The Reason for Upgrading • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 was released May 2011 and has been tested extensively #1 reason for upgrade: “Because I had to!” SAP NetWeaver BW has now been around for over 12 years!!
SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 Release History and Testing • Seven customers and nine service partners participated in the beta testing. The beta testing ended in two years ago with the following scores: Very Good Low Value 1 3 2 4 Assistance and Support BW 7.3 Quality & Reliability BW 7.3 Functional Completeness BW 7.3 Ease of Installation and Configuration 1 3 2 4 1 3 2 4 Very Satisfied Had Major Issues 1 3 2 4 SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 was tested extensively in a beta program and in ramp-up for almost one year!
Ease of Installation and Upgrade — Wizards and the ASU Toolbox • A major new feature of SAP NetWeaver BW is the ability to use a Wizard to install the system • This includes the following Wizard “templates”: • ABAP Stack initial setup • Connectivity initial setup • Templates for automated configuration • Business Suite-7 integration • Technical content reports for Initial Setup • Upgrade step-by-step (SAP Note 1000009) You can choose to use both a Java and/or an ABAP stack when installing 7.3
NEW: Specific Database Support — Teradata • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 can now run on top of the Teradata database, including: • The ability to use SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator on top of Teradata • The use of SAP’s system to manage transports between environments
NEW: Specific Database Support — IBM DB2 • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 supports specific database features: • DB2 v9.5 supports PSA, DSO, and fact table compressions for reduced disk volume (integrates with DB2 storage management) • Support for MDC clustering in the DB Cockpit • This is available in v9.5.2. or higher and default for all DSO tables and PSA in version 9.7 • Much faster request deletion if MDC clustering is used • DB2 v9.7 supports Index compressions for reduced disk volume • Support for IBM DB2’s Database Partitioning Feature (DPF) In the past, SAP NetWeaver BW has been unable to take advantage of vendor-specific database features. This has changed, and workarounds are needed less frequently.
What We’ll Cover … • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 Overview • New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities • The New Semantic Partition (SPO) Options • The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data • Faster Data Load and New Design Options • Front-End and Security Benefits • New In-Memory Possibilities with SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.2 • Planning and Executing the Upgrade • Wrap-up
New 7.3 Performance and Admin Monitoring Capabilities • New monitors include: • Monitoring of database usage and object sizes (i.e., InfoCubes, DSOs) • Query usage statistics are more visible (similar to RSRT, RSRV, RSTT) • We can see more of the use of SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator and sizes • Monitor for the actual use of OLAP/MDX Cache and hit ratios • You can now selectively delete internal statistics in RSDDSTATWHM by date through the updated RSDDSTAT_DATA_DELETE ABAP program • There is also a new MDX Editor for coding and syntax assistance Solution Manager has been updated to take advantage of these new monitors
New 7.3 Performance and Admin Monitoring Capabilities (cont.) • Other new monitors include: • DEAMON update information (i.e., RDA capacity status, usage) • A performance monitoring workbench for performance trends • Process chain monitoring (new transaction: RSPCM) with error and active chain monitoring, user-specific displays, and performance threshold monitoring (i.e., for SLAs) NLS: In SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3, the Near Line Storage has been enhanced to include archiving, support for write optimized DSOs, and database support for tools such as DB2 Viper (v9.5) and more 10
What We’ll Cover … • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 Overview • New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities • The New Semantic Partition (SPO) Options • The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data • Faster Data Load and New Design Options • Front-End and Security Benefits • New In-Memory Possibilities with SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.2 • Planning and Executing the Upgrade • Wrap-up
Semantic Partitioned Objects (SPO) • When data stores and InfoCubes are allowed to grow over time, the data load and query performance suffers • Normally objects should be physically partitioned when the numbers of records exceed 100 million • However, this may be different depending on the size of your hardware and the type of database you use • In SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 we get an option to create a Semantic Partitioned Object (SPO) through wizards • You can partition based on fields such as calendar year, region, country, etc.
Semantic Partitioned Objects (SPO) (cont.) • When an SPO is created, a reference structure keeps track of the partitions. The structure is placed in the MultiProvider for querying. Source: SAP AG, 2011 SPO Wizards create all Data Transfer Processes (DTP), transformations, filters for each data store, and a process chain automatically.
What We’ll Cover … • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 Overview • New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities • The New Semantic Partition (SPO) Options • The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data • Faster Data Load and New Design Options • Front-End and Security Benefits • New In-Memory Possibilities with SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.2 • Planning and Executing the Upgrade • Wrap-up
The New HybridProvider and Real-Time Data • The “HybridProvider” (HP) is new in SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3. The core idea is to link the historical data inside BW with real-time data. • There are two ways of implementing an HP: • HP based on a DSO • HP based on a Virtual InfoCube
Option 1: The DSO-Based HybridProvider • Core features: • Real-time data is in the DSO and historical data in the SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator-based InfoCube • The DSO use real-time data acquisition (RDA) to load data • SAP NetWeaver BW automatically creates a process chain for the HybridProvder’s data flow • The process chain is executed for every closed request This solution provides for really fast queries, but delta logic has to be custom designed
Option 1: The DSO-Based HybridProvider (cont.) • This solution provides for really fast queries, but delta logic has to be custom designed and may be complex. However, the solution allows for high-frequency updates and very rapid query response. This is a good option if you have a low volume of new records and a high number of queries or operational dashboards
Option 2: The Virtual Cube-Based HybridProvider • Core features: • Data is read in real-time from SAP ECC, while historical data is read from SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator • The difference depends on how often SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator is loaded • Non-complex data logic can be applied • DTP is permitted if you do not filter the data set Virtual cubes with many users may place high stress on the ERP system
What We’ll Cover … • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 Overview • New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities • The New Semantic Partition (SPO) Options • The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data • Faster Data Load and New Design Options • Front-End and Security Benefits • New In-Memory Possibilities with SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.2 • Planning and Executing the Upgrade • Wrap-up Hint for Experts: The search feature in the SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 Admin Workbench has been improved so that it is easier to search more items such as process chains.
Faster Data Load and New Design Options — Activation • During activation, SAP NetWeaver BW 7.0 has to lookup in the NIRV table to see if the object already exists • This can be a slow process • In SAP NetWeaver BW 7.0 we may buffer the number ranges to compare the data load with records in-memory • This speeds up data activation • However, in SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3, the data activation is changed from single lookups to package fetch of the active table, resulting in faster activation and less locks on the lookup tables • The new method may result in 15-30% faster data activation (20-40% in lab tests)
Faster Data Load and New Design Options — Activation (cont.) • For data transformations, the option “Read from DataStore” for a faster data lookup is also available • Additionally, the use of navigational attributes as sources in Masterdata transformations reduce overhead for lookups • Combined, this may lead to an additional 10-20% improvement The 7.3 initial load runtime option “Insert only” and the “Unique data records only” prevents all lookups during activation
New Data Design Options — Delta, Init, and Web Services • In SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 you can create generic delta extraction for the Universal Data (UD) and Database Connect (DB) options, as well as for flat files • Additionally, you can use the new DataSource adapter “Web Service Pull” to load data from external Web services • You can even create generic Web services delta loads and load the new data straight into the staging area of SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 • While Web services does not support hierarchies yet, there is now integration of hierarchies into the standard process flow such as transformation and DTPs, as well as being able to load hierarchies from flat files using a new DataSource When you use delta loads, the first time SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 automatically defines it as an “init load.” After that, it automatically switches to “delta” as the InfoPackage mode (no need to define it anymore!).
New Options — ETL Interface and Shutdowns • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 has a new interface to create and manage data flows graphically in a “drag-and-drop” manner, including: • Data Flow Copy to copy data flows and process chains • Data Flow Migration to migrate, or reverse migrate, data flows with automatic adoption of InfoPackages and process chains • Data Flow Wizard to automatically create complete data flows from a DataSource Source: SAP AG, 2011 Use “RS_SYSTEM_SHUTDOWN” to restart an application server and suspend RDA and process chains and restart them in a controlled manner. Data loads are not in “flux” and you do not have to clean up partial loads.
The New DataFlow Generation Wizard • In SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3, we have a new step-by-step wizard that allows you to generate data flows from flat files or existing data sources • A great benefit is that the wizard also works against any InfoProvider; i.e., you can use the wizard to create loads from DSOs to DSOs or InfoCubes This wizard reduces the number of manual steps needed to load data. It also simplifies the development process and makes ETL work much easier.
Layered Scalable Architecture (LSA) – New Templates • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 SP-3 has a set of 10 templates to help build a layered data architecture for large-scale data warehousing Source: sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/24800 • The LSA consists logically of: • Acquisition layer • Harmonization/quality layer • Propagation layer • Business transformation layer • Reporting layer • Virtualization layer
What We’ll Cover … • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 Overview • New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities • The New Semantic Partition (SPO) Options • The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data • Faster Data Load and New Design Options • Front-End and Security Benefits • New In-Memory Possibilities with SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.2 • Planning and Executing the Upgrade • Wrap-up
Security Changes and New Mass Change Feature • When companies upgraded from SAP NetWeaver BW version 3.5 to 7.0, security migration was optional and many did only a technical upgrade and kept the “obsolete authorization” concept. A security migration is now required. Great BW 7.3 Security Admin Feature: You can make mass changes to authorizations instead of one-by-one. This can be done by cut-and-paste in a worklist, hierarchy nodes, and you can also add users to multiple analysis authorizations. SAP recommends you migrate to the new concept before upgrading a 7.0 system.(Notes: 931898; 938871; 946724, 958665; 1001652)
Security Features in SAP NetWeaver BW 7.0 and 7.3 • Some companies did not do a security conversion in SAP NetWeaver BW 7.0 since items such as 0TCTAUTHH did not migrate (manually reassigned for the hierarchies) and passwords became case sensitive • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.0 still has the ABAP migration tool. It can be used in SA38 (RSEC_MIGRATION), and migration can occur before the upgrade. Authorizations are building blocks of the 7.0/7.3 reporting concept and security contains both the data value and hierarchy restrictions. Security can be built using the “RSECADMIN” transaction 28
BW 7.0 and 7.3 Authorization Objects Authorization objects for the Data Warehousing Workbench: S_RS_DS: For the DataSource or its sub objects (BI 7.x) S_RS_ISNEW: For new InfoSources or their sub objects (NW BI 7.x) S_RS_DTP: For the data transfer process and its sub objects S_RS_TR: For transformation rules and their sub objects S_RS_CTT: For currency translation types S_RS_UOM: For quantity conversion types S_RS_THJT: For key date derivation types S_RS_PLENQ: Authorizations for maintaining or displaying the lock settings S_RS_RST: Authorization object for the RS trace tool S_RS_PC: For process chains S_RS_OHDEST: Open Hub Destination Authorization objects for the Business Explorer: S_RS_DAS: For Data Access Services S_RS_BTMP: For BEx Web templates S_RS_BEXTX: Authorizations for the maintenance of BEx texts Authorization objects for the Admin of analysis authorizations S_RSEC: Authorization for assignment and administration of analysis authorizations S_RS_AUTH: Authorization object to include analysis authorizations in roles Changed Authorization Objects: S_RS_ADMWB (Data Warehousing Workbench: Objects): New sub objects: CONT_ACT – Installing Business Content; USE_DND - Drag & Drop to InfoAreas and application components; CNG_RUN - Attribute change run After the required security conversion you have access to lower security granularity for developers and users.
What We’ll Cover … • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 Overview • New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities • The New Semantic Partition (SPO) Options • The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data • Faster Data Load and New Design Options • Front-End and Security Benefits • New In-Memory Possibilities with SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.2 • Planning and Executing the Upgrade • Wrap-up
CompositeProviders: Unions of Indexes in BWA • With SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3, you get a tool to create a new “CompositeProvider” to join indices inside SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator • This works similar to MultiProviders, but can be modeled ad hoc and the joins are executed inside SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator and not inside the SAP NetWeaver BW Analytical Engine • This is much faster! Source: SAP AG, 2011 All SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 CompositeProviders, DSOs, MultiProviders, and InfoCubes are available as InfoProviders for querying. Even queries can be defined as InfoProviders.
In-Memory Processing — SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.2 and SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 • BIG DEAL! - In SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3, you can also build analytical indexes • These are simply “data containers” from APD that is stored in SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator • You can build queries on them • Using the Index Designer in SAP BusinessObjects Data Services, you can also index data from external data files and data bases and query it in SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 It is important to note that currently, the SAP BusinessObjects indexes are on dedicated hardware blades.
The New SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 Features — Modeling in SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.2 With SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.2, you can complete many of the joins and the aggregation that previously were conducted in the BI Analytical engine, and was therefore hard to performance tune It also reduces the data being transferred to the app server and therefore is much faster as well
The New SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.2/SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 — Faster Performance • The major benefit of SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.2 on SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 is that you can move more of the calculation over to the accelerator and materialize the result in-memory • This improves the reads, and calculations in the OLAP/BI analytical engine on the SAP NetWeaver BW side are substantially reduced Source: SAP AG, 2011 The following calculations is included in BW 7.3/BWA 7.2 SUM MIN MAX CNT (count all detailed values) CN0 (Count all values not zero or null) AVG (average) AV0 (Average for all values not zero or null)
The SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3/SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.2 Limitations and Query Settings • There are still some limitations. For example, you cannot use the exception aggregation for single key figures in SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator if it uses: • Virtual key figures • Conversion before aggregation • Formula calculation before aggregation • Non-cumulative key figures • Key figures with elimination of internal business volume You also get more detailed control on each query as to how it reads SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator. Think of it as similar to Query read modes. More details at SDN: www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/70950003-f7ef-2d10-b1bc-ee483800b25c?QuickLink=index&overridelayout=true
What We’ll Cover … • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 Overview • New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities • The New Semantic Partition (SPO) Options • The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data • Faster Data Load and New Design Options • Front-End and Security Benefits • New In-Memory Possibilities with SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.2 • Planning and Executing the Upgrade • Wrap-up
Some Upgrade Options and Java Stack Recommendations Option 1 • SAP NetWeaver 7.3 Java is now included, and it is suggested that ABAP and Java Stack is split • A tool to split the stack is available in EHP2 (in SAPInst) and in SAPInst in ABAP 7.30 • This gives better scalability (multiple hardware servers) • Double stack upgrade is still possible • The Java server is not used for IP after SAP NetWeaver BW 7.30 (re-developed in ABAP HTTP) Recommended Option 2 Recommended Option 3 You can automatically create connections between Java-ABAP for EP/IP or front-end Java using CTC (Notes: 983156, 1178800)
Upgrade Decision: Low, Standard, and High Resources • A major decision is: Are you going to minimize the system downtime, or doing a low resource upgrade • The trade-off is between using more system resources, or downtime • In the “standard” upgrade, we create a shadow system, while the SAP NetWeaver BW system is still operating • We turn off any archiving to make sure we do not miss any data, and do our system backup right before the downtime starts • Therefore we can do much of the upgrade before the downtime (shorten the outage) • In a very high system resource upgrade, we also use a shadow system, but imports are much faster and we can keep archiving on (may create large logs), and downtime starts earlier Most companies should use the standard upgrade method, unless their system is very small or have limited resources. For those, the shadow system is created during the downtime.
Source Release System Source Release Target Release System Target Release Target Release System Target Release System Switch Upgrade and Shadow Systems • You can use a shadow system to reduce the system outage • Also, by doing a hardware switch/ upgrade, we can minimize any impact to the production system (reduced upgrade risk) Application Data Target Release SAP BW 7.3 XPRA Import & Data Conversion Application Data Shadow System SPDD - High system resource - locks system in the REPACHK2 phase - Standard system resource - locks system in the REPACHK2 phase - Low system resource - locks system in the LOCKEU_PRE phase (Note: 851449) Shadow System Installation Application Data BW 7.0 EhP1 BW 7.0
Team Lead Team Lead Basis Basis Technical reviewer Technical reviewer Upgrade Support Upgrade Support Regression Testers Regression Testers resource BW Developer External External Upgrade Resources • A dedicated team with a technical team lead (100%), a Basis resource (100%), and a technical reviewer/tester (100% is required) • In addition, a dedicated “go-to” resource for technical issues is recommended • This should be an individual that has solid knowledge about the upgrade and has done this before • Regression testing is required on behalf of the user community • This should be coordinated with the Power Users or existing developers
The Upgrade Execution and Clean-Up • To reduce the overall size, clean the PSA, delete log-files and objects not needed (i.e., DSOs and InfoCubes), empty aggregates, etc. • You are now ready to launch the upgrade front end that will take you through all the steps of the SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 upgrade Remember to also select the new BI content package as part of your upgrade
The Upgrade Interface • While the upgrade interface is simplified, there is still a need to thoroughly understand how to set up connectivity, hardware, and shadow systems • This is not aplace to“experiment”and “explore” options … SAP has a great step-by-step “wizard” tool to help with the 7.3 upgrade
Step 1: Planning the Upgrade and Getting Started • Stop all Deamon Processes – RSRDA • Remove all temporary database objects – SAP_DROP_TMPTABLES • Run the upgrade check – RSUPGRCHECK • If you copied your system from Prod, check the storage – SECSTORE • Make sure all objects and programs have a library entry – TLIBG • Create an XML file for the new stack in Solution Manager Planning the upgrade is a significant task, and it is important to start in an organized manner. Always read the SAP Notes for your database, OS, and SAP NetWeaver release prior to starting these activities.
ASU Provides a List of Pre- and Post-Upgrade Tasks Some of the manual follow-up steps Some of the manual preparation steps There is also support for documentation of each task. Team members can consolidate their comments, test results and outcomes. This reduces the number of emails and everyone can see what has been done and see results in one place.
Step 2: Getting the Files Key You Need • Select the update option for your system • Select the stack you want to update (make sure you are connected) • Select the target system you want to upgrade to (NW 7.3) • Select all files for the operating system and database you have • Select the files for the stack (all) There are some different files required for each type of database, operating system, and stacks. Make sure you collect the right versions.
Step 3: Downloading the Files • This may sound like a simple step, but some organizations may experience slow networks, internal network timeouts, or long waits depending on peak loads on their network You may consider doing this in the evening after everyone has gone home
Step 5: The Lock Down and Preprocessing • While technically you have not yet locked the system, configuration changes to process chains, InfoPackages, and queries are no longer possible after this step • The real lock-down of SAP NetWeaver BW takes place when the pre-processing step is complete. After this, the system is unavailable for users. There are many steps between these options. The best timing may be to complete all tasks from step 1 through 5 before Friday at 5 pm when you may be able to bring the system down. Make sure you do a system backup before you proceed to step 6!
BW 7.0 Dev. Box BW 7.0 QA Box BW 7.0 Prod Box BW 7.0 Sandbox BW 7.3 Sandbox Step 1: Hardware Install, Dev Copy, and Sandbox Upgrade • In this example, we are installing new hardware • This creates a lot of flexibility and less project risk! • First, we copy the SAP NetWeaver BW 7.0 development box to the new hardware • Second, we upgrade the new sandbox in a controlled manner and document all activities • We want to create a repeatable process, so no ad hoc activities are allowed • Remember, extra time has to be set aside for notes research and unforeseen issues 1 An Example Benefits: this is also a test run for upgrading the development box (!), thereby reducing the upgrade risk. After the upgrade we also get a refreshed sandbox environment.
BW 7.0 Dev. Box BW 7.0 QA Box BW 7.0 Prod Box BW 7.0 Sandbox BW 7.3 Sandbox BW 7.3 Dev. Box Step 2: Development Box Copy and Upgrade • Now we have to freeze all development activities • Normally the work in the 7.0 dev box IDs transported to QA for testing and the dev box is locked • Using the upgrade script and all steps collected and written during the sandbox upgrade, we are upgrading the new development box • This is intended to be a structured approach that is repeatable • The developers participate in in-depth testing of the new SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 Dev box An Example 1 2 Benefits: the outage of the development box occurred after the sandbox upgrade and the development outage is minimized. This is also the second time we have upgraded the development box, so any issues should be well known.