Business Intelligence Competency Partners BI 4.1 Installation Best Practices Presenter: Rich Chlebek May 15, 2014
What We ll Cover Webinar Protocol Introductions Architecture Server Clustering High Availability considerations Sizing Tool Selection DEMO SAP s Sizing Estimator BI4.1 Sizing Guide Installation Upgrade considerations On Premise vs. Cloud Performance Tuning DEMO - System configuration wizard Server Parameters 1
Webinar Protocol Participants will be muted Submit questions to @Moderator via the Chat window Time permitting, questions will be answered at the end of the Webinar Contact Rich Chlebek, rchlebek@bicp.com for further follow up. The Webinar will be recorded and a link will be emailed to all participants 2
Introduction Rich Chlebek 17 years of experience with Business Objects from the original version 4.0(released 1997) up to BI 4.1 SP3 Member of the ASUG BusinessObjects Strategic Special Interest Group Advisor to SAPexpert http://sapexperts.wispubs.com/advisors/bi-advisors VP of BusinessObjects Practice BICP, Business Intelligence Competency Partners 3
Introduction BICP, Business Intelligence Competency Partners The BICP is an SAP Business Intelligence services organization focused specifically on SAP Business Objects and BW. Our flexible, low overhead business model leverages focused teams of highly experienced consultants that enable: World Class SAP BI/BW solutions Reduced risk to our customers Strong communication skills coupled with relevant business experience Onsite, Platinum level SAP BI consultants with hands on experience relevant to scope. We are currently involved in some of the largest and most complex SAP BI/Business Objects implementations in North America. 4
Architecture Single Server PROS No latency between BI4 Servers/Services Simple architecture reduces risk CONS Limited memory Limited CPU Not scalable No inherent Disaster Recovery Recommended for small and medium sandbox and develop systems Should be considered for small and medium QA and Production systems when a good Disaster Recovery process is in place 5
Architecture Federated Multiple standalone single server environments with centralized reports shared via Replication PROS No latency between BI4 Servers/Services Simple architecture reduces risk Decentralized control CONS Limited memory Limited CPU Not easily scalable No inherent Disaster Recovery Limited scheduled shared reporting Recommended for decentralized reporting model where only a few centralized reports are needed and shared via Replication Recommended where network latency is an issue 6
Architecture Clustered Servers PROS Scalable Failover Redundancy, if one server fails, the system remains up Distributed Work Load Increased System Performance CONS Increased latency between BI4 Servers/Services Increased complexity in architecture increases risk Recommended medium and large QA and Production systems 7
Architecture Clustered Servers for HA Components Application Server Web Tier hosts Tomcat, serves BI Launchpad Applications. Node Servers Processing Tier hosts schedule job, online and mobile processing services. Nodes are Active-Active with load balance handled by CMS processes. DB Server CMS Repository hosts Central Management Server and Audit metadata databases. FRS (File Repository System) hosts all BI 4 documents including Web Intelligence, Dashboards and agnostic. 8
Architecture Clustering for HA Best Practices All node servers should be uniform for load balancing to function properly. Nodes should have the same: Number and type of core processors Amount of hard drive RAM Operating System Connection Middleware All nodes should be in the same time zone to keep scheduled tasks and audit data in sync. All servers should be on same subnet to maintain minimal latency. Communication between nodes needs to be as fast as possible and not hindered by network traffic. Use Auditor to monitor usage. Add new servers when system usage reaches 70% of estimated capacity. 9
Sizing - Selecting the Right BI Client 10
Sizing - Where is the content consumed? 11
Sizing Who creates the content? 12
Sizing - Who consumes the content? 13
Sizing - Who consumes the content? 14
Sizing -SAP BI4.1 Sizing Estimator http://scn.sap.com/docs/doc-33183 15
Sizing - BI4.1 Sizing Guide SAP BusinessObjects BI4.1 Sizing Guide http://scn.sap.com/docs/doc-33126 Estimate usage Intelligence DB Tier Intelligence Tier Application Tier Processing Tier Sizing Analysis and Scale-out APS Configuration Deployment and Monitoring 16
Installation - Upgrade considerations BI 4.1 SP03 is available as a full install and update Full install recommended for: First time installations XIR2 SP2 and XI 3.1 upgrade to 4.1 Separate server environments recommended (greater CPU and RAM typically required for 4.x platform) Using Upgrade Manager Tool to upgrade content to BI4.1 Upgrade install recommended for: Upgrading from 4.0 versions All server configuration is maintained Additional DFO s (Default Objects) are added to the repository Repointing a 4.0 repository to a 4.1 install will not work 17
Installation - Upgrade considerations Not Recommended - Installing BI 4.1 on a separate server, and migrate content Promotion Management will not promote: Users that only have a 3rd party alias and their favorite/inbox content Setup of 3rd Party authentication Promotion Jobs themselves Authentication setup/settings Server group to server relationships Servers Tenants Applications (or application Settings) License Keys 18
Installation On Premise vs. Cloud In general remote desktop access should be the same for On Premise and Cloud installations Understand cloud provider s SLA Managed, self-service, dedicated and elastic cloud solutions available Decision is less about location and more about terms and conditions PROS Up front cost are lower SaaS model = less admin Quicker provisioning Elastic scaling CONS Longer term TCO can be higher SaaS model = less control 19
Performance Tuning - Demonstration System configuration wizard SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.1 SP02 AWS Cloud Server Windows Server 2008 R2 17 GB RAM 6.5 ECPU Tomcat 7 Sybase Anywhere CMS Sized and Configured as: Small single server Development 20
Contact Information Rich Chlebek VP of BusinessObjects Practice Website: bicp.com email: rchlebek@bicp.com Phone: 847.814.1112 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richchlebek 21
Disclaimer SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. 22