Checklist Document

Configuration and Maintenance of the

Storage Infrastructure
Checklist for Integration Validation
Introduction
This document is a collection of aspects to be checked when validating the technical architecture of SAP
solutions and the related technical infrastructure. SAP systems require scalable and fast storage solutions,
which might also be part of a high availability and disaster recovery solution.
The checklist consists of a series of questions which should highlight important aspects of storage
subsystems for SAP solutions. Due to the compleity of the topic, the checklist cannot guarantee a
functioning architecture.
How to use this checklist?
The checklist is meant to be used in the integration validation phase, where the technical architecture of the
SAP solution is designed and probably implemented already. !ach of the questions mentioned in the
checklist should be tracked by the customer and the embedded support. The questions will not directly point
to proposed technical solutions. "owever, they will point to important aspects, which should be covered and
potentially reviewed with the help of SAP services before or after entering the production phase with the SAP
solution. The recommended SAP services are the Technical Performance Optimization (TPO) (for the
specific dataase t!pe) and the Technical Performance Optimization (TPO) # Storage Sus!stem
Optimization (StSO) service.
Moti"ation and Technical #ackground
Storage, precisely the Storage Area $etwork %SA$& consisting of storage subsystems and network %e.g. 'iber
(hannel %'(&& components, is the common denominator for all SAP systems with their requirement for disk
space to store their databases and files.
)n the technical infrastructure, storage subsystems must be considered as dedicated computers with special#
purpose disk storage management functions, specifically designed to consolidate the storage demands of
multiple hosts. The SA$ is a virtuali*ation layer providing storage to host systems in the form of +ogical ,nits
%called +,$s&. The functions of the storage subsystem enhance-
$eliailit! and %"ailailit!- All components of the storage systems are redundant, so that in case of
a malfunction, the remaining component can take over the work. The data on the physical disks is
protected by redundancy %.A)D # .edundant Array of )ndependent Disks&. This means that the
storage systems always keeps redundant data in order to reconstruct the data in case of a failed disk.
Scalailit!- )n case of increasing storage demand, the capacity of the storage systems can easily be
epanded without impact on operation.
Performance- The storage system/s capability to stripe data across multiple physical disks 0
together with memory#cached )12, and special#purpose (P,s for disk#to#cache %disk adapter& as well
as cache#to#host interfaces %host adapter& 3 offer business#critical high#)12 throughput.
Storage subsystems provide 4fast cop! functions5 available for data copies within the same %local&
and between %remote& storage subsystems, enabling the implementation of solutions for data high
a"ailailit!& s!stem (landscape) cloning and ackup'restore.

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8asically all storage subsystems with the above described properties are suitable for SAP systems,
regardless of the deployed disk ackplanes %SSD, '(, S(S), SATA&, $%ID protection %level 9, 9:, ;&, the
interconnection architecture of disk adapter, cache and host adapter %bus, switch, direct matri& or the
protocols used to attach storage to hosts %'( , S(S), SAS, $AS&. Due to the selected technologies all
storage subsystems will definitely have limitations with regard to their )12 performance capabilities, but
depending on a storage sizing, considering capacity and performance requirements, the storage vendors
will provide suitable storage subsystems.
Due to the reasonable # since cost efficient # consolidation of databases on common resources, it is essential
to alance all data across all S%( components in order to achieve optimal performance.
What are the main issues tackled by SAP services for storage infrastructures?
The provided storage fulfills capacity requirements in terms of space needed to store all data, but the
storage system components such as physical disks, disk adapters, cache or storage system adapters
to the network are not sufficient to fulfill )12 performance requirements in terms of throughput
%measured in )12 operations per second %)2PS&& or bandwidth %measured in transferred <8 per
second&.
Although the provided storage subsystems fulfill the performance requirements of the storage si*ing,
some SAP systems suffer from insufficient )12 performance.
(ustomers start SAP operation with an initially optimal SA$ configuration, but with growth of data the
)12 performance deteriorates.
(ustomers are planning to redeploy their SA$ and are looking for suggestions how to optimally
configure the )12 stack.
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Checklist
Prio Item
) Capacit! Management
>hat are the results of the storage si*ing for the SAP systems consolidated in the SA$?
>hat is your SA$ growth strategy 3 in case you are planning to etend the resources of eisting
storage systems, or even to etend your SA$ by new storage systems, how do you ensure that all
SAP systems take advantage of the new resources?
"ow do you perform a seamless growth of SAP systems, with no or minimum impact to
operations?
) Operations
>hat kinds of tools or procedures are set up in order to monitor storage consumption and )12
performance?
>hat kinds of redeployments are planned for the SA$?
) #usiness Continuit! Strateg!
"ow are storage subsystem copy functions deployed for data high availability and backup1restore
solutions?
) Performance
>hat measures will be conducted to avoid bottlenecks on the complete )12 stack 3 database
system, operating system and SA$?
)n case of performance issues-
o >hat are the findings of other A@S services, such as !arly>atch Alert or TP2 for the
database system, with respect to potential )12 bottlenecks?
o >hat are the measurement results for the key performance indicators of )12, gathered during
regularly monitoring on SAP, database and operating system level?
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