In the first part of this blog, I discussed how to obtain some helpful and resourceful information around the SAP EPM space on the web. My main emphasis focused around several SAP websites including the SAP Service Market Place, SAP’s Help Center and the EPM Forum. Though I know most sequels don’t do as well as the original, I would like to now share with you some very supportive sites that revolve around the database layer of BPC.
SAP currently supports three versions of Business Planning and Consolidation, BW powered by HANA, NetWeaver, and Microsoft. Although the NetWeaver and HANA versions use SAP BW (Business Warehouse) for its Online Analytical Process (OLAP) or InfoCube for data mining, there is still a requirement for both versions to use a RDBMS (Relational Database Management System) to store the metadata. BPC on Microsoft uses the SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) for its OLAP engine, and cubes for data mining. In most instances, the RDBMS is either Microsoft SQL Server 2008/2008R2, Oracle 10g or in the case of the HANA version, HANA becomes the database.
Since SAP, Microsoft, and Oracle are three very large companies with “several” (thousands) products under their belt, there are hundreds of thousands of websites to choose from for additional research. This can sometimes be overwhelming or perhaps steer you in the wrong direction. However, I have taken the leg work out and have provided some worthwhile sites and/or articles to aid you during your investigation.
Once again, these are helpful resources sites that can be visited and applied to each project engagement you may or will have. Enjoy!
This SAP Community Network site gives a great overview, discussions, blogs and articles around SAP NetWeaver BW powered by HANA.
Although I mentioned this site in my last blog, this section will contain all the information you will need to upgrade, install and learn about SAP HANA and is a great reference tool.
This is a great “one-stop-shop” website for looking up every SQL Server Service Pack and Cumulative Update. It actually provides you with links that direct you straight to the Cumulative Update and/or Service Pack you are looking to download.
Though this site is a bit outdated the information still holds true to the way we handle best practices in regards to using Microsoft SQL Server with SAP products today.
This is a great article that describes how to optimize your database Tempdb. Microsoft SQL Server tempdb can affect the performance of your BPC system with its size and placement.
Here is another article that discussing best practices in terms of storage space for Microsoft SQL Server systems
This site describes how to start using the Database Engine Tuning Advisor, a Microsoft SQL Server tool that provides suggestions on how to enhance and run your database at its optimal performance.
This site provides Oracle database developers, users and administrators with a great centralized area for forum discussions, troubleshooting documentation and many tools.
As you may have noticed, there are far many more sites listed for Microsoft SQL Server then there are for Oracle 10g. This was actually done intentionally. I have added a special section below because these are not necessarily websites but SAP Notes.
These notes focus all on using Oracle databases with SAP. Please Note: In order to review these notes, you will need a valid username (S-ID) and password from SAP. You can contact SAP directly for more information.
Note 1013912 - FAQ: Oracle BW performance
Note 1431798 - Oracle 11.2.0: Database Parameter Settings
Note 830576 - Parameter recommendations for Oracle 10g
Note 1171650 - Automated Oracle DB parameter check
Note 1431798 - This Note should be checked monthly to see if there are any updates and along with the latest service pack.
Column5 Takes BPC User Questions - Roundtable Webcast
The BPC planning process has undoubtedly uncovered a number of questions about the product and process for you and your teams – Column5 is here to help! Watch this extensive webcast with questions and answers to help contain your BPC planning.
