SAP wholeheartedly supports the idea of 64-bit operating systems to underpin its software, but cautions against implementations that are not supported.
Chris Liebenberg, principal consultant at SAP Africa, addressed a breakaway session at SAP and HP's Tech-Ed conference yesterday, outlining the benefits of operating systems and hardware that can process 64 bits of information at a time.
"Such systems can overcome the constraints of 32-bit systems by addressing far more main memory. It also simplifies management, which in turn reduces total cost of ownership." He added that migrating should be easy, given the familiar commands and operations.
More benefits
SAP or its implementations also benefit, he said. One needs fewer servers, and servers with large physical memory are better utilised. SAP's extended memory can also be increased "dramatically", its buffers - particularly program buffers, can be made bigger and performance is improved, although performance must be monitored constantly.
But Liebenberg cautioned against mixed 32- and 64-bit environments. "It is certainly allowed, but not recommended. There are cases, such as having a high-end 64-bit database and a 32-bit application server. The obverse is only allowed in very special cases. And for obvious reasons, 32- and 64-bit on the same server is not supported at all."
Liebenberg added that transports between file systems are also allowed, as long as they are tp or R3trans. He said it is not important for third-party add-ons to SAP to be either of 32- or 64-bit.
Joining the fray
Windows and Linux are two new additions to the 64-bit landscape. "These will contribute a lot to allowing more cost-effective running of SAP solutions on 64-bit," said Liebenberg. "Particularly Linux will have strong application in due course."
Speaking from a personal viewpoint only, he said he didn't see either of these operating systems as a threat to AIX, HP-UX, Solaris or the other Unix variants. "If you want a high-availability database platform, HP-UX and other Unix flavours are the way to go."
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