SAP OS/DB Migration to SQL Server–FAQ v5.0 May 2013
The FAQ document attached to this blog is the cumulative knowledge gained from hundreds of customers that have moved off UNIX/Oracle and DB2 to Windows and SQL Server in recent years. Intel based servers provide all of the required Enterprise Features at a fraction of the cost of UNIX hardware.
SAP provide fast, safe and fully documented and supported tools to export SAP databases from UNIX/Oracle or DB2 and import to SQL Server. The FAQ provides information on how to speed up the data export/import process and how to address common questions that come up on migration projects.
Q1. How long does it take to migrate from UNIX proprietary servers and Oracle or DB2 to standard Intel commodity servers and SQL Server?
A1. There are few if any SAP databases anywhere in the world that would take longer to export than 24 hours. Typically 2TB per hour can be achieved with modern Intel servers running many hundreds of R3load processes exporting data from UNIX/Oracle or DB2. The performance limitation is the network which is solved by the use of 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Databases 10-15TB can be exported/imported over a weekend without concern. A typical SAP migration project to commission a new Intel server & SAN, migrate Dev, QAS and Production systems takes 2-3 months
Q2. Is it possible to upgrade the SAP release or perform a Unicode Conversion during a migration to SQL Server?
A2. Yes, the FAQ contains details on how to do this
Q3. What certification is required to perform a OS/DB migration on a production system?
A3. Only SAP certified consultants may perform OS/DB migrations on production systems. SAP offer the course TADM70 SAP Certified Technology Associate - OS/DB Migration for SAP NetWeaver 7.30.
There are many certified System Integrators that perform migrations:
- Accenture
- RealTech www.realtech.com
- HP
- Abeam www.abeam.com
- Connmove www.connmove.de/
- BNW www.bnw.com.au
Recently we have released several new customer case studies with details about customers that have moved their systems from UNIX/Oracle or DB2 to SQL Server
SATS - a spin off from Singapore Airlines move ECC, BW, SRM off IBM pSeries/Oracle to reduce operating costs and improve performance.
“Aviation is a challenging industry because high fuel and labor costs have eroded the profits of our airline customers. As a result, there is always pressure on the service provider to lower prices,” says Lee Siew Kit, Vice President of Information Technology Services at SATS.
https://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?CaseStudyID=710000002537
Telecommunications provider in New Zealand moves ECC, BW and EP off IBM pSeries to dramatically improve performance and reduce operating costs. BW performance improves dramatically on SQL Server 2012.
“We had used Microsoft technologies for many years, and so we were excited about SQL Server,” says Martin. “It was good to see that advanced features in SQL Server 2012 such as page compression, backup compression, and column store and table partitioning are seamlessly integrated into SAP BW. We knew it would be the right fit for us.”
https://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?CaseStudyID=710000001762
Other recent customers moving off proprietary UNIX servers include:
Fletcher Insulation https://www.insulation.com.au/ – IBM pSeries/Oracle to HP Blade servers running Windows 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2008 R2
Incitec Pivot Limited https://www.ipl.com.au/ – IBM pSeries/Oracle to HP Blade servers running Windows 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2008 R2 (case study coming soon!)
Paperlinx https://www.paperlinx.com/
Other recent SAP on SQL Server case studies include:
Coca Cola South Africa run Africa and Indo-China bottling and beverage on SAP on SQL Server
Balance Agri Nutrients upgrade to SQL Server 2012, compress databases and improve performance
Air Products move SAP off IBM Mainframe to standard Intel servers
Saudi Electricity move off IBM Mainframes to standard Intel servers. Saudi Electricity case study is coming soon. This will show how Saudi Electricity consolidated their entire SAP SQL Server landscape onto a 4 node DB cluster (4 x HP DL580 G7 512GB RAM) and consolidated all application servers onto 14 HP G8 blade servers. With more than 700,000 SAPS, 15,000 logged on users, 5,000 active users this is one of the larger SAP infrastructures in the EMEA region