Planning the HA for SAP Installation and Configuration

This section contains the information you need to plan your HA for SAP installation and configuration.

Note - HA for SAP can be configured to run in a whole root or a sparse root non-global zone, if required.

Configuration Restrictions

Caution - Your data service configuration might not be supported if you do not observe these restrictions.

Use the restrictions in this section to plan the installation and configuration of HA for SAP. This section provides a list of software and hardware configuration restrictions that apply to HA for SAP.

For restrictions that apply to all data services, see the release notes for your release of Oracle Solaris Cluster.

Limit node names as outlined in the SAP installation guide. This limitation is an SAP software restriction.

Configuration Requirements

Caution - Your data service configuration might not be supported if you do not adhere to these requirements.

Use the requirements in this section to plan the installation and configuration of HA for SAP. These requirements apply to HA for SAP only. You must meet these requirements before you proceed with your HA for SAP installation and configuration. For information about updates to SAP profiles, see the SAP documentation at http://service.sap.com/ha.

For requirements that apply to all data services, see Chapter 1, Planning for Oracle Solaris Cluster Data Services, in Oracle Solaris Cluster Data Services Planning and Administration Guide.

After you create all the file systems for the database and for SAP software, create the mount points, and put the mount points in the /etc/vfstab file on all the cluster nodes. See the SAP installation guides, Installation of the SAP R/3 on UNIX and R/3 Installation on UNIX-OS Dependencies, for details about how to set up the database and SAP file systems.
Create the required groups and users on all the cluster nodes. See the SAP installation guides, Installation of the SAP R/3 on UNIX and R/3 Installation on UNIX-OS Dependencies, for details about how to create SAP groups and users.
Configure HA for NFS on the cluster that hosts the central instance if you plan to install some external SAP application servers. See Oracle Solaris Cluster Data Service for Network File System (NFS) Guide for details about how to configure HA for NFS.
Install application servers on either the same cluster that hosts the central instance or on a separate cluster. If you install and configure any application server outside of the cluster environment, HA for SAP does not perform fault monitoring and does not automatically restart or fail over those application servers. You must manually start and shut down application servers that you install and configure outside of the cluster environment.
Use an SAP software version with automatic enqueue reconnect mechanism capability. HA for SAP relies on this capability. SAP 4.0 software with patch information and later releases should have automatic enqueue reconnect mechanism capability.

Standard Data Service Configurations

Use the standard configurations in this section to plan the installation and configuration of HA for SAP. HA for SAP supports the standard configurations in this section. HA for SAP might support additional configurations. However, you must contact your Enterprise Services representative for information about additional configurations.

Figure 1-1 Four-Node Cluster With Central Instance, Application Servers, and Database

image:Illustration: The graphic's title describes the graphic.

Figure 1-2 Two-Node Cluster With Central Instance, NFS, Database, and Non-HA External Application

Note - The configuration in Figure 1-2 was a common configuration under previous Oracle Solaris Cluster releases. To use the Oracle Solaris Cluster software to the fullest extent, configure SAP as shown in Figure 1-1 or Figure 1-3.

Figure 1-3 Two-Node Cluster With Central Instance, Database, and Development Node

Configuration Considerations

Use the information in this section to plan the installation and configuration of HA for SAP. The information in this section encourages you to think about the impact your decisions have on the installation and configuration of HA for SAP.

Failover and Scalable Applications

Retrieve the latest patch for the sapstart executable. This patch enables HA for SAP users to configure a lock file. For details about the benefits of this patch in your cluster environment, see Setting Up a Lock File.
Read all the related SAP online service-system notes for the SAP software release and database that you are installing on your Oracle Solaris Cluster configuration. Identify any known installation problems and fixes.
Consult SAP software documentation for memory and swap recommendations. SAP software uses a large amount of memory and swap space.
Generously estimate the total possible load on nodes that might host the central instance, the database instance, and the application server, if you have an internal application server. This consideration is especially important if you configure the cluster to ensure that the central instance, database instance, and application server will all exist on one node if failover occurs.

Scalable Applications

Ensure that the SAPSIDadm home directory resides on a cluster file system. This consideration enables you to maintain only one set of scripts for all application server instances that run on all nodes. However, if you have some application servers that need to be configured differently (for example, application servers with different profiles), install those application servers with different instance numbers, and then configure them in a separate resource group.
Install the application server's directory locally on each node instead of on a cluster file system. This consideration ensures that another application server does not overwrite the log/data/work/sec directory for the application server.
Use the same instance number when you create all application server instances on multiple nodes. This consideration ensures ease of maintenance and ease of administration because you will only need to use one set of commands to maintain all application servers on multiple nodes.
Create separate scalable application server instances for each SAP logon group.
Create an SAP lock file on the local instance directory. This consideration prevents a system administrator from manually starting an application instance that is already running.

Configuration Planning Questions

Use the questions in this section to plan the installation and configuration of HA for SAP. Insert the answers to these questions into the data service worksheets in Appendix C, Data Service Configuration Worksheets and Examples, in Oracle Solaris Cluster Data Services Planning and Administration Guide. See Configuration Considerations for information that might apply to these questions.

What resource groups will you use for network addresses and application resources and the dependencies between them?
What is the logical hostname (for failover services) for clients that will access the data service?
Where will the system configuration files reside?

See Configuration Guidelines for Oracle Solaris Cluster Data Services in Oracle Solaris Cluster Data Services Planning and Administration Guide for the advantages and disadvantages of placing the SAP binaries on the local file system as opposed to the cluster file system.

Packages and Support

Table 1-3 and Table 1-4 list the packages that HA for SAP supports.

Table 1-3 HA for SAP Packages From Oracle Solaris Cluster 3.0 7/01

Resource Type	Description
`SUNW.sap_ci`	Added support for failover central instance.
`SUNW.sap_as`	Added support for failover application servers.

The *_v2 resource types are the latest version of the resource types (RT) for HA for SAP. The *_v2 resource types are a superset of the original RTs. Whenever possible, use the latest RTs provided.

Table 1-4 HA for SAP Package From Oracle Solaris Cluster 3.0 12/01

Resource Type	Description
`SUNW.sap_ci`	Same as Oracle Solaris Cluster 3.0 7/01. See Table 1-3.
`SUNW.sap_as`	Same as Oracle Solaris Cluster 3.0 7/01. See Table 1-3.
`SUNW.sap_ci_v2`	Added the `Network_resources_used` resource property to the Resource Type Registration (RTR) file.
	Retained support for failover central instance.
`SUNW.sap_as_v2`	Added the `Network_resources_used` resource property to RTR file. Added support for scalable application servers.
	Retained support for failover application servers.

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