Move SAP system from Unix Sun Solaris to IBM AIX; copy & migration options

[Former Member]

We are in the planning process for a hardware platform change from Sun to IBM servers.

Unix operating system will need to "change" from Solaris to AIX.

We have confirmed that SAP ECC 6.0 using oracle 11.2 is supported by AIX

versions 5.3, 6.1 and 7.1 by reviewing service.sap.com/pam.

We are interested in obtaining feedback from clients who have done this, how they did it and their expereience positive and negative.

Software:

SAP ECC 6.0

BI

portal

Netweaver 7.1

Solution Manager

OSS

db=Oracle 11.2

Option #1 Recommendation by SAP from case opened; SAP consider this an OS system change.

(e.g. use Heterogeneous System Copy)

a) By an SAP Technology Consultant with special certification for OS/DB Migrations

b) The SAP OS/DB Migration Service is required for each productive SAP System involved

Option #2 As the operation system is staying as a Unix OS, can a system copy instead of OS migration be done.

(e.g. Homogeneous System Copy)

a) Install SAP software on IBM AIX server(s)

b) Copy SAP db from source to target using R3 load or Oracle copy.

In our view Option #1 is far more costly and time consuming than Option #2 and we are concerned if the risk is justified.

Your input is much appreciated.

Thank you

Eric

[Former Member]

Hello Eric,

Since the operation you are planning entails a change of operating system, it is always a heterogeneous migration from the SAP perspective. Therefore option (2) is simply not open. You might actually succeed in migrating the database without using the SAP tools and methodology but SAP would then not support the target system. Over the years I have seen a few cases where companies tried to devise their own method for moving their SAP systems to another platform and they invariably ended up hitting a wall (due to lack of insight into the nature of the SAP database, extreme run times, consistency issues or a mixture of any of the above). In the hands of a competent OS/DB migration certified consultant I can't think of anything that will beat R3load in speed, parallelism, versatility and guarantee of success.

Regards,

Mark

[markus_doehr2]

> In the hands of a competent OS/DB migration certified consultant I can't think of anything that will beat R3load in speed, parallelism, versatility and guarantee of success.

Oracle has a feature called "transportable tablespaces":

Note 1035051 - Transportable tablespaces

Even the BR*TOOLS have parts of that incorporated:

Note 1003028 - Enhanced support for database copy in BR*Tools

One can use that feature to do a heterogeneous copy but it requires some manual work also.

Markus

[rizwan_javed2]

Markus,

Can you confirm that SAP will support the system which is migrated using Tranportable tablespaces ?

If yes can we get any reference to SAP note or any document. Actually we are planning to migrate our HP-UX systems to Linux. Our DBA just migrated non-SAP systems with same platforms configuration using transportable tablespaces. So based on this experience we are inclined towards using the same method for our SAP systems. But we not sure if SAP will keep supporting the systems after the migration ! Any information in this regard will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Rizwan.

[former_member188883]

Hi Eric,

In either option (1) or option (2), you need to use R3load process to migrate from Sun to IBM AIX.

In case your team does not have relevant competancy you can look for external experts as this activity is very critical and requires substantial knowledge.

Option #2 As the operation system is staying as a Unix OS, can a system copy instead of OS migration be done.
(e.g. Homogeneous System Copy)
a) Install SAP software on IBM AIX server(s)
b) Copy SAP db from source to target using R3 load or Oracle copy.

In above option, you still need to perform migration from Sun to AIX using R3load for copying the db. In case you oracle tools , SAP will not provide support on the same. You need to have support from Oracle.

Regards,

Deepak Kori

[nicholas_chang]

Hi,

Please pay attention to the code page when using option 2 as SOLARIS_SPARC and SOLARIS_X86_64 is on different endian.

You are safe if your source is SOLARIS_SPARC as it share the same endian (4102) with AIX, whilst SOLARIS_X84_64 is running on (4103).

Thanks,

Nicholas Chang

[former_member189725]

Regarding the 2 options :

1. The first option is indeed costly and time consuming , but at the same time provides you an opportunity to move to Oracle 11g without having to upgrade. Also you have the option to get your data compressed and also completely redefine your storage design. You also have the option to reorganize the data using the SAP OS/DB migration method which is basically the R3load method.

2. The second option is more favorable from timeline perspective, but you will have to upgrade to Oracle 11g after you copy the database/data using transportable database or transportable tablespace. This will not be a normal backup/restore method.

In Option#2 , point b, R3load will not be used , its only the above method Option#2.

There is another option , which is basically downtime minimized (the above options require downtime), SAP note 1508271 gives you information on that .