Fujitsu Siemens Computers, together with Symantec and Oracle, has created a high-end solution for SAP applications based on Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) for the PRIMEPOWER platform. Challenges facing SAP customers generally include:
* High levels of unplanned downtime for SAP databases
* Scalability of SAP database
* Utility and utilisation of SAP database servers
* Manageability of large SAP databases is increasingly complex
Working with the PRIMEPOWER platform and drawing from a substantial experience pool of SAP expertise, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, working in close co-operation with SAP Labs was one of the first companies to evaluate and test Oracle RAC for SAP applications.
"Our solution combines the right choices in server technology, operating system and the right cluster solution and cluster file system," says Rui de Oliveira, Product Manager Enterprise Computing at Fujitsu Siemens Computers.
"As a company we have a wealth of expertise in the implementation of mission-critical SAP data centres in several industries using data cluster technologies. Our first international RAC projects yielded some interesting results, finishing in half the anticipated time, without any impact on the delivered quality."
The combination of Solaris and PRIMEPOWER is the optimum choice for RAC. PRIMEPOWER enjoys a well-established reputation as a top performer for Solaris-based applications. In addition, PRIMEPOWER is renowned for enhanced reliability, availability and serviceability, due to its unique SPARC64 V RISC processor with self-healing features. The PRIMEPOWER has the capacity of scaling up to 128 CPU, enabling flexible, cost-effective custom configurations, and it is ready for Solaris 9 and 10.
Oracle RAC addresses two key enterprise requirements for mission-critical database applications: high availability and scalability, delivering the most innovative solution on the market. Oracle RAC allows Oracle Database to run any packaged or custom application, unchanged across a set of clustered servers. This provides the highest levels of availability and the most flexible scalability. If a clustered server fails, Oracle continues running on the remaining servers. And when more processing power is required, another server can be simply added with no disruption to current users. Oracle RAC is the foundation for Oracle`s Enterprise Grid Computing Architecture.
In essence, Oracle RAC provides options for scaling applications beyond the capabilities of a single server. This allows customers to take advantage of lower cost commodity hardware to reduce their total cost of ownership and provide a scalable computing environment that supports their application workload.
Symantec plays a critical role in the Oracle RAC solution. Veritas Storage Foundation for Oracle RAC is built on years of experience in delivering storage management and high availability solutions, including pioneering an enterprise-class journaled file system on Unix and the first Cluster File System and Cluster Volume Manager on Solaris. In providing the critical storage and availability infrastructure, Veritas Storage Foundation for Oracle RAC provides:
* Database and application resiliency and availability enabling rapid recovery in the event of planned or unplanned downtime over local, metropolitan, or wide-area distances.
* Flexible database management and performance enhancing features (in excess of 90% of all SAP installations run on file systems) including;
* Online storage capacity growth
* Online shrinking and re-layout of SAP, Oracle, file systems, and volumes with little to no downtime
* Unparalleled scalability SAP and Oracle scalability
* Tiered storage support - dynamically move Oracle data files among multiple tiers of storage based upon changing application and database requirements
* Oracle Disk Manager support - achieving raw device performance with the management benefits of Cluster File System, easing the burden of database management and ensuring cost-effective storage management
* Robust split-brain protection - Incomparable protection against logical corruption from split-brain by providing advanced I/O fencing capabilities, ensuring Oracle RAC database integrity.
* Simultaneous access to storage from multiple servers - Allows transaction load balancing across servers, and enables the full utilisation of enterprise RAID subsystems.
* Dynamic Multi-pathing-Ensures storage I/O load balancing and failover for optimal performance and quick recovery in the event of a path failure.
The key benefits of Veritas Storage Foundation for Oracle RAC are:
* A single management view for all database and storage management tasks, enabling IT organizations to install, configure, manage and perform tasks centrally, independent of hardware platform.
* Protection against interconnect failures, interconnect timeouts, node hangs, and a variety of other failures while at the same time providing ease of management and enabling configuration changes with little to no downtime.
* Storage Checkpoints and Rollback enables more frequent backups and fast point-in-time recovery of data from on-disc backup images.
In essence, the combination of Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Oracle RAC and Symantec answer the challenges of the modern SAP environment, with a combined solution that ensures high availability, specifically driving unplanned SAP downtimes to zero and reducing unplanned SAP downtime for Operating System patching and hardware maintenance. An additional benefit to customers is that maximum performance is gained while manageability is maintained.
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Fujitsu Siemens Computers is the leading European IT provider with a strategic focus on next-generation mobility and dynamic data centre products, services and solutions. With a portfolio of exceptional depth, our offering extends from handhelds through desktops to enterprise-class IT infrastructure solutions. Fujitsu Siemens Computers has a presence in all key markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Leveraging the strengths, innovation and global reach of our joint shareholders, Fujitsu Limited and Siemens AG, we make sure we meet the needs of customers: large corporations, small and medium enterprises and private users. The company is a member of the United Nations Global Compact initiative.
For more information about Fujitsu Siemens Computers, please visit www.fujitsu-siemens.com.
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