SMD for Active Global Support a must?

[Former Member]

Hello!

I have the general questions regarding SMD within SOLMAN 4.0

<b> 1) Is SMD a must for the Active Global Support (if yes, why)?

2) Which adavntages do I get using SMD within SOLMAN?

(which usage scenario can SMD implement for SOLMAN)

3) Is the installation of SMD free of charge or not?</b>

Any helpful information will be appreciated!

regards

Thom

[markus_doehr2]

> 1) Is SMD a must for the Active Global Support

> (if yes, why)?

I have opened MANY MANY calls in the past (Java related) and NO (totally NO) supporter from OSS even <b>asked</b>, if SMD is available - so it's not mandatory. At the time we still had it configured and working for some specific systems I gave the URL to the supported and finally we ended though on the machine using telnet/X-Windows so - it's not mandatory (at least as of now).

> 2) Which adavntages do I get using SMD within

> SOLMAN?

> (which usage scenario can SMD implement for SOLMAN)

You can have a nice and nifty support tool for yourself and for the supporters, in later versions it <b>may</b> consistently check why some applications are not working as expected but as of now I would consider it as a "nice-to-have". It adds another bunch of (Java-) dependencies, installation of agents on all the systems (and keeping them in-sync with the SMD "server") etc. etc. - so lots of work for something, that can be done faster (in my personal opinion) if you logon directly to an affected system.

> 3) Is the installation of SMD free of charge or

> not?</b>

Yes.

If you installed a Solution Manager it's already installed (the SMD server).

--

Markus

[Former Member]

Hallo Marcus,

Thank you very much for your response!

I have read that for the usage of SMD the satellite systems should have.

CA Wily Introscope as well as

Mercury Load Runner

Are these tools also free of charge?

What are the main benefits for usage of SMD within SAP Solution Manager?

Can SMD be used in the area of process and SOA Monitoring?

regards

Thom

[markus_doehr2]

> I have read that for the usage of SMD the satellite systems should have.

> CA Wily Introscope as well as

> Mercury Load Runner

>

> Are these tools also free of charge?

Yes - parts of them (not full licenses).

> What are the main benefits for usage of SMD within SAP Solution Manager?

Same question as above - read my answer there

> Can SMD be used in the area of process and SOA Monitoring?

That is the final goal - but SAP has still a way to go.

--

Markus

[Former Member]

Hello Markus,

many thank's again.

Could you please tell which tools are free of charge and which not:

SMD (is fully integrated in SOLMAN --> free of charge)

CA Wily Introscope (???)

Mercury Load Runner (???)

other tools (???)

Thank you very much!

Thom

[FredericOzon]

Hi Thom, Markus,

I think you should have a look to http://service.sap.com/diagnostics

You will find all info about E2E Diagnostics.

Regards,

Frederic

[markus_doehr2]

check

Note 797147 - Wily Introscope Installation for SAP Customers

Note 807951 - GoingLive Check Optimization - Remote Load Testing

There you will get the tools that are delivered with the installation.

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Markkus

[Former Member]

Hello Markus,

can you also give some critical points in usage of SMD...

The point is we would like to evaluate the pros and cons of SMD in the area of Enterprise Portal.

Is there some alternative solutions (e.g. other tools or CCMS agents) that could replace SMD?

Thank you very much!

regards

Thom

[markus_doehr2]

What do you consider as "critical point"?

The portal itself is not affected by SMD, they may, however, occur dependencies between the support stacks installed on the portal, the patch version of the agent, the patch version of SolManDiag (Server), the patchlevels of Wily and/or Mercury.

You may end up in patch chains (theoretically like)

- SMD Server (SolMan) ist patched to SP XY

- SP XY on SolMan needs patched SMD Agents on the portal

- SMD Agent on the portal needs a specific JDK patchlevel

- if you use the same as the portal you would need to update it for the portal also

- it may need some operating system patches

etc.

Apart from such patch chains, that MAY occur there portal itself is agnostic of the fact, if an agent runs there or not. It's "just" a bunch of additional work to be done, not only on the Java side but also in the Solution Manager itself (defining "solutions" and publish them to SMD etc.). What you get in return is, well, in my opinion not enough (for me/us here) to judge the effort your need to invest.

Check e. g. note 1061383 - End-to-End Diagnostics SP13 what prerequisites would be necessary to really get to the point to do that real diagnostics. Too many dependencies, too many things to consider and too many points where you could get stuck and need help from OSS. If you're really hardcore and want to get all through this you can certainly do it and there may be cases where this will help you. For us all those patching orgies ended in "having SMD for having it" but nobody, neither internally nor the OSS support people, used it and thus we removed it.

--

Markus

[FredericOzon]

Hi Markus,

...

If you're really hardcore and want to get all through this you can certainly do it and there may be cases where this will help you. For us all those patching orgies ended in "having SMD for having it" but nobody, neither internally nor the OSS support people, used it and thus we removed it.

...

I could not let you tell such things on this forum.

SAP did a big roll out on diagnostics, nearly all members of AGS organisation follows E2E 100 training & Certification. So it should be used/required now by all SAP Support Organization.

Diagnostics is not a gadget, and provides really a good set of tools for mix environment with Abap/Java/.Net technology. It is not only for Portal (Java) as it was in the past but for complex scenario implementations.

I recommend you to search for information about the new E2E tools:

E2E Workload Analysis

E2E Trace Analysis

E2E Change Analysis

E2E Exception Analysis

Did you implement them in your organization?

Please have a look to visit http://service.sap.com/diagnostics.

In addition, the version delivered with SAP Solution Manager SP13 allows you to setup, all applications using wizards. It drastically reduce the setup time.

Some major SAP customers implements successfully this tool, and realize the benefits of it.

So Yes, Diagnostics is a Must for support organization.

Regards,

Frederic

[markus_doehr2]

>

> Hi Markus,

>

> ...

> If you're really hardcore and want to get all through this you can certainly do it and there may be cases where this will help you. For us all those patching orgies ended in "having SMD for having it" but nobody, neither internally nor the OSS support people, used it and thus we removed it.

> ...

>

> I could not let you tell such things on this forum.

> SAP did a big roll out on diagnostics, nearly all members of AGS organisation follows E2E 100 training & Certification. So it should be used/required now by all SAP Support Organization.

>

Well - I'm expressing our experiences and my opinion because I was asked for it and those were the (unfortunately bad) experiences we made with that tool. We are neither a TOP-500 company nor do we have such a big support organization - we want to do our business with the help of software - not vice versa.

> Diagnostics is not a gadget, and provides really a good set of tools for mix environment with Abap/Java/.Net technology. It is not only for Portal (Java) as it was in the past but for complex scenario implementations.

>

> I recommend you to search for information about the new E2E tools:

> E2E Workload Analysis

> E2E Trace Analysis

> E2E Change Analysis

> E2E Exception Analysis

> Did you implement them in your organization?

Nope - because of the reasons mentioned. And if you tell, that the note I mentioned is not a "hardcore patching note" then, well, you may be hardcore and liking it - I do not It's not about "using" the tools, it's about getting them to work and keeping them running. THAT is the main culprit. Everyone tells you on nice high-gloss powerpoint presentations, that is "easy" to set them up and maintain them. I learned my lesson (and yes, I arrogate I'm educated enough - had a lot of SAP courses in that area and thus I'm capable to judge).

I'm not blindly bashing SMD and each organization must made their own experience, I'm just telling mine - which may or may not be in sync with what SAP propagates - which is fine for me.

I have a call running for 18 months now (in processing by SAP) - asking for dependencies between those 220+ applications that run when you install a portal - nobody is yet able (or willing or both) to give me that answer.

> Please have a look to visit http://service.sap.com/diagnostics.

>

> In addition, the version delivered with SAP Solution Manager SP13 allows you to setup, all applications using wizards. It drastically reduce the setup time.

Yes - if you have a standard-default-all-in-one installation, if the systems are new installed and not upgraded etc. etc. then it may be as easy as described.

> Some major SAP customers implements successfully this tool, and realize the benefits of it.

I agree. If you have the resources and the manpower to implement it - go for it.

We are a medium size company (2,5 basis people) and we don't have that. I already spent a LOT of hours already to get a single portal infrastructure connected to the SMD (with SP9/SP10) and what I got was not what I was expecting from it. On top of that, when I gave the SMD URL to the OSS support, they asked me for direct access to the system - so I was asking: "why investing so much time for a tool, that is neither used internally nor by the SAP support itself?".

> So Yes, Diagnostics is a Must for support organization.

That is your opinion - which is ok - I just have a different one.

If it's not allowed to tell my opinion/experiences any more if they do not comply with the SAP opinion, then it would be the right time to say goodbye to the forum. I do not criticize the idea of SMD, I just think, that it's still way to complicated and way too much work to get it in place and to keep it running.

--

Markus