As I mentioned in my last blog, Penny Silva and I are working with IBM Labs, ComeritLabs and SAP press on developing a new text book for HANA.
In the process we are building a complete HANA system with the latest components. In our second week, the HANA system is now installed and we have started implementing the SAP BW on HANA solution (yes, we did it really that fast). However, there are quite a bit of hardware involved. So, in this blog I will show you some pictures of the many components.
By Dr. Berg
The HANA Hardware
In our development system at the lab we have installed IBM’s high-end x3950 X5 server for HANA. This is a massive 4U rack-mounting server (4U = 7 inches high) that weights 70.5 lbs. Inside we have 256 GB main memory in 2 memory banks installed, however, this is expandable to 512 GB with all 4 memory banks filled (the HANA DB resides here).
For disk space (yes, HANA has disk space for the database failover and boot), this is stored on a GPFS file system. For us, this is a 3.3 TB HDD (actually several HDD acting as one virtual disk and one hot-swap).
Inside the box, there are also two processors, for a total of 10 Intel Xeon E7 series 2.40 GHz processors and a 320 GB internal fusion card, used on a separate GPFS file system for the HANA logs. Looking from the front and back (open box) we have the following components:
IBM’s x3950 x5 HANA Solution (front)
IBM’s x3950 x5 HANA Solution (back)
Connections and Scalability
There is also a bunch of connectors. There are one dedicated Ethernet connection for IMM (IBM's Integrated Management Module, this manages the server) and two QPI ports, used to connect to a second x3950. Using this connection type, the two physical servers can be scaled up to act as one big server (important for those who want multi-terabyte HANA systems). We also have two 10 GB connections on an Emulex card, four 1 GB Ethernet connections on a PCI card, and two 1 GB Ethernet connections on motherboard.
The software in our system is a bit simpler. The operating system is Linux SUSE (SLES 11 SP 1), and we have installed the two IBM GPFS file systems as well as the SAP HANA software (the server components such as HANA Studio, XML and SQL parsers, logs and much more).
Next Steps
The hardware is now ready, and over the next few weeks I will relay our experiences and benchmarks for this interesting and exciting technology from SAP. So stay tuned as we share more of our experiences.
There are very little in-terms of practical published material on HANA, except for some training books and some PowerPoint and blogs. However, this is about to change with the new HANA Introduction book from SAP Press.
by Dr. Berg
The HANA Proof-Of-Concept and Test
Working together with our editors at SAP Press, Penny and I decided to cover both the intro and overview of HANA, as well as including a how-to 'cook book' on HANA Studio, data loading and Information Composer. We even added a chapter on how the BOBJ tools integrate with HANA.
However, we don't want this book to be just a re-hash of what is already out there on the forums and blogs, so as part of the book, we are building a new system.
This is done by installing IBM's 3950 X5 platform and are installing BW and BOBJ as well to make sure we are getting the real benchmarks and got-cha's in our tests with ComeritLabs and IBM Labs.
Today the system arrived in boxes at the lab, and now the fun begins. I have three of my employees working with me and the lessons learned will be in my next series of blogs...
Background and Authors
First of all, I have to acknowledge that I am biased in this blog. Actually, I am one of the two co-authors. Together with my friend and former colleague, Penny Silva, we are writing the first text book on HANA with support from ComeritLabs and IBM Labs.
Penny is a well know speaker at SAP Conferences with a lot of experience in running SAP BI projects and BI practices. Today, she is part of the IBM global leadership team for SAP Data and Analytics, and at a previous firm, we worked together for several years. So there is no coincidence that we are collaborating.
The HANA Introduction Book Table of Content
Content - Introduction to in-memory analytics - Use cases for SAP HANA - Requirements for running SAP HANA - Implementation options - BWA vs. SAP HANA - Planning your installation - SAP HANA and SAP BusinessObjects - Information Composer and PowerUser capabilities - HANA Studio - Data population - Data replication and ETL with Sybase and SAP tools - Introduction to administering an SAP HANA system
As many know, Flash for mobile devices are “dead” and Adobe has announced that after releasing version 11.1 it would no longer continue to develop new releases for mobile (that is how SAP render dashboards). On a call last week SAP provided more details of their HTML-5 initiative. In this blog we look at what is happening and the announcement around Zen the BEx Web Application Designer killer.
By Dr. Berg
Flash and HTML-5 Background
In older flash versions there were issues with navigation and drill-down selectors. So bad, that you often had to create a PC and a tablet version of the SAP dashboard. In version 11 much of this was fixed. However, flash still has a lot of problems that are fixed in HTML-5 (the technology that is ‘replacing’ it).
First of all HTML5 has better security, better compression, less memory consumption and smaller ‘footprint’ on handheld devices. This includes less battery drain, less processing power requirement which allows rendering on increasingly smaller devices, and Apple does not support flash on any of its tablets, while HTML-5 seems to work fine on iPads.
What is SAP Doing?
SAP made the strategic direction to support HTML-5 and is now creating similar objects that exist in flash. The goal is to have Xcelsius (SAP Dashboards) ready by end of Q4 for ramp up.
SAP has said that there will be an app to download from the app store to render the new HTML-5 for dashboards and SAP will give you the option to publish to HTML-5 or flash in the future.
However, all of the hundreds of flash objects will not be available this year. SAP has committed to writing the first 37 of them. This includes:
After the ramp-up, SAP may start releasing this to customers in 2013.
Zen, the BEx Web Application Dashboards Killer
SAP is also coming out with a new product called SAP BusinessObjects Analysis edition for Application Design (what a mouthful!) that will replace SAP BEx Web Application Designer (WAD).
This product is internally dubbed as “the Zen project” and the vision is that this will be the recommended dashboarding tool for SAP BW shops that do not have BusinessObjects. Zen’s initial release is targeted to the SAP BW and HANA data sources. SAP noted that other data sources may be added in the future. The tool SAP BusinessObjects Analysis edition for Application Design (yeah, it is really that long!) will be in ramp up mode sometime in 2013 Q1.
I was unable to find any current statement or demo that mentions the collaboration of this tool with others, but I agree that it is time that SAP takes a stab at the old web application designer with a tool that better integrates with the overall BOBJ tool direction away from legacy BEx tools.
In summary, HTML-5 is the right way to go and ‘WAD’ replacement is strategically the right decision. I just wish SAP would move a bit faster... But stay tuned for an interesting 2013.
Dr. Berg
PS! SAP stated on the call that these new updates are currently only geared towards the enterprise versions of the software.
BW 7.3 migrations always raises questions about the Java-ABAP stack. Here are some quick notes:
While ‘double stack’ upgrades are still possible, SAP NetWeaver Java 7.3 is now included with BW 7.3.
So the short story is that you should consider splitting the ABAP and Java stack as part of the 7.3 upgrade, if you have not already done so. Splitting the stack gives better scalability (multiple hardware servers). Also, the Java server is not used for IP after BW 7.30. It was re-developed in ABAP HTTP (Java no longer required), so plan for a switch during the upgrade.
Some useful tools/notes for moving forward...
A tool to split the stack is available in EhP2 (in SAPInst) and in SAPInst in ABAP 7.30.
When you finish the upgrade, you can also automatically create connections between Java-ABAP for EP/IP or front-end Java using CTC (see SAP notes: 983156, 1178800 for instructions).
In this fifth demo, of the BusinessObjects tools, we look at the BI Launchpad and provide an 11 minutes demo on features such as BI workspaces, Public folders, search, sharing reports, favorites and much more. We also look at how Crystal Reports, WebI, Analysis and Dashboards are accessed in this unifying interface.
By Dr. Berg
Background
There are many ways to publish and share the BusinessObjects work products. You can link it in SAP Portals, SharePoint, a dedicated web site, build your own report center, use the ‘old’ InfoView, or you can take the next step and implement the BusinessObjects BI Launchpad.
This is a tool that allows you to access reports, share results, comment, organize and publish to others your findings regardless of the tool you used. You can even send reports to other user’s in-boxes, or to departmental shared ‘public folders’.
It also allows you to organize your workspace with WebI reports, Crystal reports and all the other BI tools in a single location (one screen), thereby removing the need to toggle between reports and have multiple log-ons and ‘interfaces’. This is really cool….
For most BusinessObjects customers with Powerusers and authors, I recommend the BI Launchpad instead of individual ‘spaces’ on web portals (you can do both if you need to). The launchpad also allows for modules and composite modules where you can ‘merge’ results and make comments in one location, removing the need for lengthy emails. So, let us take a look...
DEMO - BI 4.0 – The BI Launchpad
In this demo we take a look at the tool from a functionality standpoint to illustrate how a power user may want to use the tool.
Tool Summary
To keep things in perspective, below is a summary chart to see what each tool is intended for, who should be doing the development and the core capabilities. This is by nature subjective, but should provide some basic comparison of the tools.
In this fourth demo, of the BusinessObjects tools, we look at the web based OLAP tool called Analysis for OLAP. This five minutes demo show the use of drill-downs, conditional formatting, adding calculations, filtering, basic graphing and more, so that you can see how this tool may work in your organization.
By Dr. Berg
Background
Our friend BEx Analyzer, the Excel based interface to SAP BW, is now a teenager. Since 1999 it has served BW uses with On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) and is today adopted in thousands of companies world-wide. However, now is the time for a change.
BEx Analyzer is now being replaced by the much more functional BusinessObjects Analysis tool. This tool comes in two editions: the OLAP edition and the MicroSoft edition.
Basically, the 'OLAP' edition is the Web interface replacing the BEx Web reporting and the MS edition is replacing the Excel based BEx Analyzer interface. It is important to note that this does not affect the 3rd BEx tool, Web Application Designer templates (yet).
A cool thing is that we now also get to query BW via PowerPoint (really!), and we also get much more control over the output and query manipulations in Excel. So, this is a great upgrade to the older tools. However, there are also some other names we have to clarify. If you have heard about Voyager, Pioneer, Advanced Analysis, don't worry, it is all "Analysis" now. So forget the other confusing names (four names in 24 months, really!)
DEMO- SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 Analysis for OLAP
In this demo we take a look at Analysis for OLAP. It is a web based client tool that helps you view multidimensional data that can then be personalized through the use of filters and conditions for specific information. This data can later be viewed in a multitude of different tables and charts and be broadcasted and/or shared.
NEWS: Ipad vs. Android for BusinessObjects tools - Live Session at Insider Learning Network - on 3/20
On the 20th of March, I will be hosting a live online Q&A on Insider Learning Network on BusinessObjects reporting for handheld devices. This is a practical discussion of some of the finding from in-depth testing we did at ComeritLabs with all the tools on Android and Ipad tablets. Watch the BI/BW Forum (bit.ly/BI-BWForum) for more details.
Dr. Berg
Tool Summary
To keep things in perspective, below is a summary chart to see what each tool is intended for, who should be doing the development and the core capabilities. This is by nature subjective, but should provide some basic comparison of the tools.
In this third demo, of the BusinessObjects tools, we look at the ad-hoc query tool called WebIntelligence. This demo show the development of a sales report based on SAP BW and demonstrate typical tasks such as formatting, filtering, graphing, inserting sums, copying report blocks on the web.
By Dr. Berg
Background
Ad-hoc querying has been a sore point in the SAP NetWeaver landscape. We had no capabilities in the first versions of BW, but in BW 3.5 (2003) we got a tool called 'ad-hoc query designer'. This was so clunky that SAP removed it in the BW 7.0 release in 2006, and that was a good decision.
Now we have WebIntelligence from BusinessObjects that fills this void. It is a tool that evolved as a web version of the tried and tested tool called "Desktop Intelligence" and frankly it is a solid solution for those seeking BI self-service for power users and authors. While the 'pixel-controlled' formatting options are not as rich as Crystal Reports, WebI provides enough options to meet the vast basic reporting requirements for organizations.
However, as you will see in the demo it is not an OLAP tool either (that is BusinessObjects "Analysis"), but rather a quick way to interact with data and create basic 'canned' reports that can meet many of the requirements of casual users.
BusinessObjects BI 4.0 WebI Demo
BI-IT 2012 in Las Vegas - Right Now
Meanwhile we are having a great time here in Las Vegas at the BIIT conference and I just finished a 3-hour session on HANA, BO Explorer and BWA. I also have 3 more sessions tomorrow and Thursday.
If you have time, stop by the Meet-The-Expert session at 5:30 on Wednesday 2/29 and we can talk more about HANA and BI tools.
NEWS: Ipad vs. Android for BusinessObjects tools - Live Session at Insider Learning Network - on 3/20
On the 20th of March, I will be hosting a live online Q&A on Insider Learning Network on BusinessObjects reporting for handheld devices. This is a practical discussion of some of the finding from in-depth testing we did at ComeritLabs with all the tools on Android and Ipad tablets. Watch the BI/BW Forum (bit.ly/BI-BWForum) for more details coming soon.
Hope to see you around.
Dr. Berg
Tool Summary
To keep things in perspective, below is a summary chart to see what each tool is intended for, who should be doing the development and the core capabilities. This is by nature subjective, but should provide some basic comparison of the tools.
In this second demo, of the BusinessObjects tools, we look at the tool now known simply as “dashboards”. This demo we take show an “annual invoice dashboard” with links to WebI and Crystal reports.
By Dr. Berg
Background
Xcelsius is the premier dashboarding and cockpit tool for SAP. It replaces most of the use of Visual Composer for BW, as well as most of the functionality of basic web templates built in Web Application Designer.
However, it is important to note that there may be some advanced web templates that cannot currently be recreated in BusinessObjects Dashboards and there are also use case scenarios for composite applications (CE) that will still be using Visual Composer. So this is not a 100% replacement for those tools.
BOBJ Dashboard Demo (with WebI & Crystal Reports)
In this demo we show multiple ways of seeing invoice data, as well as basic tables with drill-down and navigation. We also show simple integration to “canned” WebI reports and links to Crystal Reports with some basic navigation.
Tool Summary
To keep things in perspective, below is a summary chart to see what each tool is intended for, who should be doing the development and the core capabilities. This is by nature subjective, but should provide some basic comparison of the tools.
To see more BI 4.0 Dashboards demos and learn how to make your dashboards work really fast, visit my presentation at BIIT 2012 conference in Las Vegas called “Preventing, diagnosing, and resolving the 20 most common dashboard performance problems” on Wednesday, February 29, from 10:00 am - 11:15 am in room 121.
In the next blog I will demo the OLAP tool “Analysis”.
Since I know many are still unsure what the differences are between the different BusinessObjects tools, I and my employees at ComeritLabs have built a series of blogs and movies to demo each of the tools. I start with BI 4.0 Explorer.
Background
BI 4.0 explorer are basically an idea that you can upload pre-defined information spaces to memory and search the data with "Google-like" speed in an unstructured way. There is no queries and minimal development work.
The tool can be deployed many ways. You can store your data in-memory using BW Accelerator or HANA, or you can simply keep it ‘un-accelerated” and access it from a database. However, the latter option may be rather slow and therefore remove much of the benefits of BI Explorer: speed.
BI 4.0 Explorer Demo
Tool Summary
To keep things in perspective, below is a summary chart to see what each tool is intended for, who should be doing the development and the core capabilities. This is by nature subjective, but should provide some basic comparison of the tools.
To see more BI 4.0 Explorer demos and details, visit my presentation at BIIT 2012 conference in Las Vegas called “A technical guide to implementing and optimizing SAP BusinessObjects Explorer”. It will be on Tuesday, February 28, 2:45 pm - 4:00 pm in room 320.
In the next blog I will demo the dashboarding tool Xcelsius
To speed up query execution and also get access to ‘near-time’ and ‘real-time’ data in BW, look at the new "HybridProvider". The core idea is to link the historical data inside BWA with real-time data. Currently, there are two ways of implementing a hybrid provider: it can be based on a DSO or a Virtual InfoCube.
If you base it on a DSO, then ‘real-time’ data is in the DSO and historical data in the BWA-based InfoCube (the DSO uses real-time data acquisition (RDA) to load data). BW automatically creates a process chain for the HybridProvider's data flow and the process chain is executed for every closed request. This solution provides for really fast queries, but delta logic has to be custom designed.
If you base it on a Virtual cube, the data is read in real-time from ECC, while historical data is read from BWA. The difference depends on how often BWA is loaded. Basic non-complex data logic can be applied and DTP is permitted if you do not filter the data set. Just be sure that you take into account that virtual cubes with many users may place high stress on the ERP system.
I believe these may be great options for people in finance looking at faster close cycles and near-time reporting, or executives who simply cannot wait for end-of-nigh data loads.
