SAP on Microsoft

Windows Server 2012

and SQL Server 2012

Published: October 2012

For the latest information, please see www.microsoft.com/sap.

SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Disclaimer
This document is provided as-is. Information and views expressed in this document, including URL and other Internet website references, may change
without notice. You bear the risk of using it.
Some examples are for illustration only and are fictitious. No real association is intended or inferred.
This document does not provide you with any legal rights to any intellectual property in any Microsoft product. You may copy and use this document
for your internal, reference purposes.
2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Contents
Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................................................................. 4
Who should read this white paper ......................................................................................................................................... 4
Market Landscape ................................................................................................................................................................................ 5
Microsoft and SAP Better Together ........................................................................................................................................... 7
Reduce the total cost of ownership with the Microsoft platform .............................................................................. 8
Microsoft A Complete Platform for SAP ............................................................................................................................... 10
Mission-critical confidence through SQL Server 2012 ................................................................................................. 10
AlwaysOn ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Auditing .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Support for Windows Server core deployments ............................................................................................................ 11
xVelocity ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Transparent data encryption .................................................................................................................................................. 11
Online indexing ........................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Database compression for all SAP products .................................................................................................................... 11
15,000 partitions ......................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Automatic memory tuning ...................................................................................................................................................... 12
Dynamic management views ................................................................................................................................................. 12
Game changing virtualization and private cloud solutions with Windows Server 2012 and System
Center 2012 ................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Virtualization enhancements .................................................................................. 12
Hyper-V Network Virtualization ............................................................................................................................................ 13
Shared-nothing live migration .............................................................................................................................................. 13
Cluster enhancements .............................................................................................................................................................. 13
Hyper-V Replica........................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Hardware offloading.................................................................................................................................................................. 13
Guest NUMA support................................................................................................................................................................ 14
Runtime memory configuration............................................................................................................................................ 14
Hyper-V Network Switch ......................................................................................................................................................... 14
Windows PowerShell 3.0 .......................................................................................................................................................... 14
Private cloud offerings .............................................................................................................................................................. 14
Microsoft System Center Operation Manager 2012 integration with SAP .......................................................... 14
Automatic virtual machine provisioning through System Center 2012 ................................................................ 15
One Consistent Platform ............................................................................................................................................................... 16
Additional Benefits ............................................................................................................................................................................ 17
Resources.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Executive Summary
Todays innovations in hardware technologies have led organizations to embrace commodity hardware as
the preferred platform for business applications of every kind, including business critical SAP systems.
Commodity hardware, when used in combination with SAP systems running on a Microsoft platform, can
benefit the enterprise in several ways. In fact, SAP and Microsoft have collaborated for more than twenty
years to ensure customers can benefit from enterprise-grade application reliability, availability, scalability,
serviceability, and manageability. With the latest releases of Microsoft Windows Server 2012 and SQL
Server 2012, enterprises can deploy their mission-critical SAP systems on the Microsoft platform with
confidence and achieve significant cost savings without sacrificing performance, availability, flexibility, and
scalability.
This white paper discusses the capabilities of the Microsoft platform that solidify Microsoft as an ideal
enterprise-ready platform provider for SAP, as several case studies, analyst reports, and studies cited in
this white paper demonstrate. Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 are examined, specifically, for
the capabilities and benefits they offer.

Who should read this white paper

This white paper is intended for business decision makers and IT decision makers who are looking for a
complete and comprehensive platform, including an operating system and database solution to run their
SAP applications on. In addition, this white paper helps business decision makers and IT decision makers
evaluate the Microsoft platform for SAP systems.

4 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Market Landscape
In todays market landscape, organizations are challenged with an overwhelming number of options for
driving critical enterprise applications. In this competitive situation, organizations are looking for
platforms and solutions that can improve the agility, performance, and reliability of their business-critical
applications while reducing costs. The most common solution offered in this environment is the
combination of commodity hardware with efficient application and platform software.
The trend toward capitalizing on commodity hardware improvements by combining efficient application
and platform software continues to grow, and it is even evident across enterprise adoption of SAP servers
over the last decade. In fact, a recently published white paper1 on SQL Server 2012 and SAP solutions
reveals that SAP Application Performance Standard (SAPS) numbers achieved for four-socket servers, as
Figure 1 shows, have increased dramatically since 1998. In general, these numbers illustrate the dramatic
improvement in the performance of commodity hardware, which resulted from well-tuned software
during this period.

Figure 1. Improving performance of SAP on commodity hardware (Source: SQL Server 2012 Technologies for SAP Solutions.2)

5 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Commodity hardware running the latest operating and database systems can provide the levels of
reliability, availability, serviceability, and scalability organizations have come to expect, at a fraction of the
cost. Microsofts operating and database systems for commodity hardware are an optimal choice for
organizations looking for enterprise applications such as SAP.
According to an IDC study3, the Microsoft platform is one of the best options for hosting and running SAP
workloads on. The study explains how enterprises with Intel/AMD hardware running on a Microsoft
operating system experience a series of benefits that they would not otherwise experience without the
combination of commodity hardware with SAP and Microsoft solutions. The benefits include the
following:

Reduced procurement costs for hardware systems due to commodity x86-based hardware as well
as reduced hardware maintenance costs due to the ability to take advantage of existing employee
skills

Increased flexibility due to a flexible and virtualized hardware platform

Reduced operational costs due to lower maintenance costs for hardware and better use of
existing employee skills

Additional cost benefits due to reduced redundancies

A white paper from IDC concludes that customers may be strongly motivated moving
their infrastructure such as hardware system, operating system and database to an
x86/Microsoft platform to reduce cost.
IDC white paper4

6 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Microsoft and SAP Better

Together
Microsoft offers an unparalleled breadth of solutionsspanning consumer and business technology and
extending from the data center to the desktop to a variety of other devices and into the cloud.
Furthermore, Microsoft gives organizations the flexibility to use the technology that is right for the
business and delivers optimal technology to help people innovate, compete, and grow.
For more than 20 years, SAP and Microsoft have enjoyed a strong partnership with one unified goal:
create customer value. This close collaboration has led to the development of joint solutions, such as Duet
Enterprise, and the continued optimization of Windows and SQL Server platforms for SAP. Today,
thousands of companies around the world depend on these SAP and Microsoft solutions to effectively run
their businesses. Microsoft has grown to be the platform of choice for new SAP customers with around
65,000 SAP installations on Windows Server and 35,000 SAP installations on SQL Server 5. This is part of
the long-term trend of organizations choosing the Microsoft platform for its reliability in running the
workloads outlined in Figure 2.
1993-1998

1999-2004

2005-2010

2011-2012

SAPGUI on
Windows
SAPGUI Desktop
Office Interop

mySAP CRM Mobile

Client on Tablet PC
mySAP.com Solutions
on Pocket PC

BYD uses Silverlight

as front end renderer
Project Mendocino
Ships as Duet TM
Office announced as a
native SAP UI (along with
Web, SmartClient, and
Mobile)

Duet Enterprise

DCOM Connector
SQL Server 2000
Portal Development Kit
.NET
SAP .NET Connector

SQL Server 2005

SQL Server 2008
SQL Server 2008 R2
Joint Commitment to
Advanced Web Services
SAP Enterprise Services
Explorer for
Microsoft.NET

SQL Server 2012

Applications
and Services

Integration with
Exchange Server
SQL Server 6.0
SQL Server 7.0
RFC SDK

Applications
Infrastructure

SAP R/3 on SQL

ServerTM
SAP R/3 on
Windows NT

Windows Server 2000

SAP 64-Bit Windows
(for Itanium)
SAP is Windows 2000
Launch Partner
Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server
2012

Business
Alliance

Microsoft Becomes
SAP Customer
Agreement Between
Bill Gates and
Hasso Plattner

mySAP SCM for

Xbox Manufacturing
SAP NetWeaver and
Microsoft.NET
Announcement

Mendocino Business
Alliance
SAP and Microsoft sign
new agreement covering
and communicate plans
for next three versions of
Duet

SAP-Microsoft
Unite Partner
Connection

Client
Interoperability

Figure 2, Microsoft and SAP Partnership (Source: Microsoft and SAP timeline6)

7 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Microsoft and SAP have partnered to ensure that the Microsoft platform and SAP solutions work well
together for enterprise applications. The SAP certification of Windows Server and SQL Server is the
technical stamp of approval of the joint effort from Microsoft and SAP. Choosing a Microsoft platform for
SAP fulfills a series of requirements. Firstly, it helps to reduce the number of vendors needed to deploy an
SAP system. Secondly, it fits smoothly into a homogeneous Microsoft system landscape. Thirdly, it reduces
skill requirements as the heterogeneous infrastructure can also be managed using a single management
system such as Microsoft System Center.
our move from Oracle to SQL Server will reduce our total cost of ownership for our PTC
Windchill database by at least 90 percentand yield a four-month return on investment.
Tim Suiter, IT Director, IGT (Microsoft Case Study)7

Reduce the total cost of ownership with the Microsoft

platform
The Microsoft platform provides numerous capabilities to optimize SAP operations for a more secure,
efficient, and flexible service. SQL Server 2012 is an optimal database for enabling mission-critical
environments, offering availability and performance at a low total cost of ownership (TCO) for SAP
installations of all sizes. The Microsoft platform can help organizations lower TCO through increased
flexibility with configuration and architecture; higher database administrator productivity; increased
hardware utilization; minimized surface area attacks for improved security; and key feature enhancements,
such as higher compression and faster failover time.
SQL Server 2012 delivers a non-risk adjusted ROI of up to 189 percent with a 12.1-month
payback period and a risk adjusted ROI of up to 149 percent with a 13.6-month payback
period.
Forrester study on behalf of Microsoft8

Through new product features and enhancements in Windows Server 2012 such as Hyper-V Replica,
failover clustering, live migration, and network virtualization, organizations can realize upfront and
ongoing cost savings. With Windows Server 2012, organizations can expect to lower their unplanned
downtime during failures via built-in continuous availability, replication, and disaster recovery features
such as failover clustering, Hyper-V Replica, and new file share protocol enhancements. Organizations can
also expect to reduce their administrative labor costs through full automation with Windows Server 2012.
With Windows Server 2012, organizations can reduce their server footprint and related utility costs
through improved workload density. Organizations can also benefit from significant cost savings from
virtualization, which reduces the number of servers and thus cuts down the number of licenses required to
support the hypervisor platform.

8 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Ultimately, with the new features and enhancements in Windows Server 2012, organizations can expect to
realize upfront and ongoing cost savings across the key areas outlined in Figure 3:

Figure 3. Microsoft and SAP Partnership (Source: Windows Server 2012 Rapid Deployment Program: TCO Study Whitepaper9)

SAP enterprise applications running on the Microsoft platform provide a rapid return on investment (ROI)
and ongoing cost savings. According to a Microsoft study 10, migrating an SAP ERP environment to SQL
Server can reduce unplanned downtime by over 20 percent, cut IT labor costs by nearly 25 percent, and
reduce ongoing software support costs by up to 85 percent. Database tool functionality, including
monitoring, compression, security, tuning, storage and clustering, are included with SQL Server at no
additional cost. The same tools from Oracle can increase costs anywhere from $14,000 to $491,000. At less
than one percent of total ongoing costs, server support contracts are a relatively minor contributor.
Nonetheless, Windows-based hardware platforms save about $13,000 annually in a large scenario.
In addition to these savings, SQL Server can help with large savings in storage infrastructure. With a classleading compression for SAP systems from the SQL Server offering, the total storage savings across the
entire SAP landscape can be substantial, and the rate of data growth can be more manageable.

The NEC SAP system processes 1.5 million online transactions per day, at peak times, with
a database size of 20 terabytesand cuts IT costs by 20 percent.
NEC (Microsoft Case Study)11

The trading firm Mitsui & Co. deployed a core system based on SAP ERP, running
Windows Server and SQL Server, in an innovative private cloud to reduce its database
backup size by up to 86 percent, increase availability, and help prepare for the future.
Mitsui & Co. (Microsoft Case Study)12

Upgrading to SQL Server R2enabled us to extend the life of our SAN. We are realizing
data compression rates in excess of 80 percent and in some cases, up to 90 percent.
T.J. Fang, Chief Information Officer, Quanta Computer (Microsoft Case Study)13

Microsoft offers a very flexible and cost-effective pricing approach when it comes to
maintenance and licensing feesPreviously, 35 percent of our time was spent duplicating
our administrative efforts on the separate systems.
Wouter Hanson, Business Development and Operations Manager, Partezis (Microsoft Case Study)14

9 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Microsoft A Complete Platform

for SAP
Microsoft provides a complete solution suite of technologies to help enable an interoperable, end-to-end
infrastructure for SAP. This helps IT departments to maximize ROI and enable mission-critical
environments at a low TCO. For instance, Microsoft conducted a benchmark test of Redknee Turnkey
Converged Billing running on SQL Server 2012, Windows Server 2008, and Intel Xeon-based Servers15,
which revealed a 250 million-subscriber test that exceeded performance objectives. With the Microsoft
Application Platform and other Microsoft products, KAS BANK16 has been able to process approximately
100 million transactions per day. Similarly, another customer, Choice Hotels International, reported 17 that
the average response time for queries is less than 200 milliseconds for the end user. 18
Microsoft uses SQL Server 2012 with a 5.8-terabyte SAP ERP database to run its global
business, a solution which improved Microsofts auditing capabilities and online table
maintenance; offered support for Windows Core; eliminated the need for database
administrators; and gained 99.995 percent availability.
Microsoft Information Technology Group (Microsoft Case Study)19

Mission-critical confidence through SQL Server 2012

Enterprises that run SAP applications need around-the-clock availability and performance. SQL Server
2012 is an optimal database for enabling mission-critical environments, offering availability and
performance at a low TCO for SAP installations of all sizes. According to the SAP SD (Sales & Distribution)
Standard Application benchmark results for a two-tier Internet configuration20, a single server running
Windows and SQL Server can support 25,160 concurrent users with 137,470 SAPS (SAP Application
Performance Standard). The SAP SD three-tier Internet configuration21 demonstrated that SQL Server can
support 93,000 concurrent users.
We estimated that a solution based on SQL Server 2012 would be about one-eighth the
cost of running competitive products and UNIX on proprietary hardware.
Simon Yu, IT Director, Wei Chuan Foods Corporation (Microsoft Case Study)22

AlwaysOn
AlwaysOn technology combines the high availability and disaster recovery functionalities of SQL Server,
which provides greater flexibility when managing SAP configuration and architecture. AlwaysOn provides
one primary and four secondaries, with up to two secondaries synchronously aligned with the primary.
This approach can dramatically improve high availability because there is no single point of failure and
maintenance can be performed offline during normal work hours without affecting the production of SAP
instances. Mediterranean Shipping Company23, a Microsoft customer, stated that automatic failover is
twice as fast as their previous solution in their SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn test configuration.

10 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Auditing
SQL Server 2012 provides enhanced flexibility and usability for auditing SAP applications across the SQL
Server environment. Key capabilities include audit resilience, filtering, and user-defined audits to support
regulation compliance. SQL Server 2012 also helps to ensure security-enhanced deployments and
minimize surface area attacks by enabling only required services through System Center Configuration
Manager.

Support for Windows Server core deployments

Core installation is an important method of reducing patches and reboots triggered by patching.
Organizations can reduce management and maintenance efforts, minimize disk space requirements, and
decrease operating system patching by as much as 50 to 60 percent 24. These improvements mean that
SAP applications can run more quickly and efficiently on SQL Server 2012.

xVelocity
SQL Server 2012 introduces a new data warehouse query acceleration feature based on a new type of
index called an xVelocity memory optimized column-store. This new index, combined with enhanced
query processing features, improves data warehouse query performance. According to the Microsoft
benchmark performance report from April 201225, complex data warehousing queries running with and
without column-store indexes on a one-terabyte database showed elapsed time speed ups of 8 to 20
times for many queries, with some improving by as much as 100 to 500 times. For more information on
using SQL Server 2012 column-store with SAP BW, please see http://blogs.msdn.com/cfsfile.ashx/__key/communityserver-components-postattachments/00-10-36-3643/SQL_5F00_Server_5F00_2012_5F00_Column_2D00_Store.pdf.

Transparent data encryption

With transparent data encryption, SAP customers can encrypt an entire database, data files, and log files
without the need for application changes. Transparent data encryption includes encryption of application
databases and backup of encrypted SAP databases.

Online indexing
All index maintenance operations can be performed online. Incremental re-indexing with read-consistent
scans and lock handling helps to enhance SAP performance.

Database compression for all SAP products

Data in tables and indexes can be compressed, in addition to data at the row and page levels. Row-level
compression reduces database size without additional resource consumption. Page-level compression,
which is now a default compression type in SAP, reduces the size of a typical SAP ERP database by up to a
factor of four, helping to improve overall response time and reduce storage costs in a dramatic way.
According to SAP26, applying row compression on an SAP ERP Unicode system on SQL Server resulted in
approximately 50 percent space savings and approximately 75 percent space savings when using page
compression.

11 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

15,000 partitions
SAP NetWeaver BW customers who perform daily loads can benefit from the increase in table partitions
from 1,000 to 15,000.

Automatic memory tuning

Highly sophisticated algorithms adapt memory and cache sizes to changing workload conditions to
deliver optimal performance to SAP applications. SQL Server 2012 introduces dynamic threshold
percentage rates for updating statistics. The higher the number of rows in a table, the lower the threshold
becomes to trigger a statistics update.

Dynamic management views

Added dynamic management views offer greater transparency and visibility into the SQL Server database
engine, as well as better processing for SAP DBA Cockpit.

Game changing virtualization and private cloud solutions with Windows

Server 2012 and System Center 2012
Through System Center 2012 and Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V technology, customers can gain the
benefits of greater agility, flexibility, and choice. These connected offerings enable SAP customers to easily
scale their deployments in their own data centers or expand through partner-offered private clouds. For
example, if a workload needs to scale on-demand periodically (such as in the case of a paycheck or
employee performance review application), required resources can be added automatically.
Windows Server 2012 is the next version of the Windows Server operating system family. It builds on its
Windows Server predecessors, offering many improvements and new features to improve operations,
performance, and scalability for SAP solutions.
90 percent of the applicable respondents plan to deploy Windows Server 2012 within 24
months. Other results from the research showed that for respondents familiar with
Windows Server 2012, 51 percent found server virtualization to be an important product
capability, while 49 percent cited private cloud enablement as another capability.
Microsoft, Virtualization & Private Cloud Trends27

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Virtualization enhancements

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V provides a low-cost, scalable, and highly available platform for server
consolidation of SAP solutions. Whether the solution comprises components of an SAP ERP system or
solutions such as SAP BW, SAP Enterprise Portal, SAP Process Infrastructure, SAP Master Data
Management, or SAP Mobile Infrastructure, the resource utilization of the SAP infrastructures physical
servers can be optimized by moving the components into virtual environments. With Windows Server
2012 Hyper-V, Microsoft delivers capabilities such as the ability to host 320 logical processors or four
terabytes of physical memory and support 2,048 virtual CPUs and 1,024 active virtual machines per host to
meet the most demanding IT needs, as Figure 4 shows. There are many other new features within
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V to support the needs and challenges of SAP customers.

12 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Figure 4. Windows Server 2012 vs. VMware (Source: Why Hyper-V? 28)

Hyper-V Network Virtualization

Hyper-V Network Virtualization extends the concept of server virtualization to permit multiple virtual
networks, potentially with overlapping IP addresses, to be deployed on the same physical network. With
Hyper-V Network Virtualization, SAP customers can set policies that isolate traffic in their dedicated virtual
network independently of the physical infrastructure for fully secure and isolated multi-tenancy.

Shared-nothing live migration

Shared-nothing live migration in Windows Server 2012 enables virtual machine mobility by moving a
running virtual machine without downtime to another Hyper-V host with no clustering or no shared
storage but with only a network connection. Organizations can move virtual machines among clusters
without the need to stop, export, and import them. They can also move virtual machines among Hyper-V
servers anywhere in the organization, and even migrate virtual machines to service providers or the cloud
without any downtime.

Cluster enhancements
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V has many new enhancements for clustering, including support for guest
clustering via Fibre Channel, enhanced live migrations to use more available network bandwidth,
encrypted cluster volumes, Hyper-V application monitoring, and virtual machine failover prioritization.

Hyper-V Replica
Asynchronous, application-consistent virtual machine replication is built into Windows Server 2012. It
permits replication of Hyper-V virtual machines between two locations for business continuity and failure
recovery. Hyper-V Replica works with virtually any server vendor, network vendor, or storage vendor. This
is a generic capability not specific to SAP.

Hardware offloading
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V takes advantage of many new hardware offloading features that are
supported in Windows Server 2012, including support for SAN-based offloaded data transfer (ODX), IP
offloading, and Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) through support for SR-IOV networking devices.

13 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Guest NUMA support

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V now supports Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) in a virtual machine.
NUMA refers to computer architecture in multiprocessor systems in which the required time for a
processor to access memory depends on the memorys location relative to the processor.

Runtime memory configuration

The dynamic memory improvements to Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 help SAP customers reach
higher consolidation numbers with improved reliability of Hyper-V operations. They can make memory
configuration changes for virtual machines without shutting down the virtual machines.

Hyper-V Network Switch

The Hyper-V Extensible Switch in Windows Server 2012 is a layer-2 virtual network switch that provides
programmatically managed and extensible capabilities to connect SAP virtual machines to the physical
network. The Hyper-V Extensible Switch is an open platform that enables multiple vendors to provide
extensions that are written to standard Windows API frameworks.

Windows PowerShell 3.0

Windows Server 2012 provides a comprehensive management platform for all aspects of the data center,
including servers, network, and storage. In Windows PowerShell 3.0, sessions on remote servers are
resilient and can withstand various types of interruptions. In addition, learning Windows PowerShell is
now easier than ever through improved cmdlet discovery and simplified, consistent syntax across all
cmdlets.

Private cloud offerings

Virtualization reduces the number of physical servers. It does not, however, inherently mean a reduction in
the number of virtual servers. While one of the virtues of virtualization is the ability to provide a number
of virtual servers on short notice, it carries with it the challenge of managing an increased count of virtual
servers. Fujitsu, with its strategic partners Microsoft and SAP, has developed a solution known as
FlexFrame. FlexFrame on Windows for SAP is a dynamic infrastructure solution from Fujitsu for running
SAP applications in Windows environments. It also provides an ideal foundation for cloud computing
environments, since it meets the key cloud requirements of system flexibility, efficiency, and reliability. It
delivers savings of up to 60 percent in the TCO of infrastructure running SAP solutions (FlexFrame on
Windows for SAP29).

Microsoft System Center Operation Manager 2012 integration with SAP

Through third-party solutions, SAP customers can fully integrate Microsoft System Center Operations
Manager (SCOM) with SAP NetWeaver. SAP customers can also take advantage of the SDK for SCOM and
a corresponding SDK for SAP. Third-party solutions provide the ability to compile all relevant monitoring
data from various SAP systems and to transmit it to SCOM without any deviations. These tools can
provide a one-stop view of an organizations IT components to ensure the smooth execution of business
processes. These solutions enable SCOM to display important messages from SAP systems in real time.
Third-party tools include cmWatcher by Connmove and others.

14 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Automatic virtual machine provisioning through System Center 2012

Organizations can use new service templates in Virtual Machine Manager 2012 to dynamically add
application servers to an existing SAP landscape. To implement a SAP dialog instance sample, two
components of the System Center 2012 suite are used:

Virtual Machine Manager 2012: Virtual Machine Manager is a management solution for a
virtualized data center, enabling organizations to configure and manage virtualization host,
networking, and storage resources to create and deploy virtual machines and services to private
clouds. More information is available at http://technet.microsoft.com/enus/library/gg610610.aspx.

Orchestrator 2012: Orchestrator is a workflow management solution for the data center.
Orchestrator enables organizations to automate the creation, monitoring, and deployment of
resources in their environment. More information is available at http://technet.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh237242.aspx.

15 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

One Consistent Platform for onpremises and off-premises

solutions
The future lies in the hybrid IT cloud, where organizations will be able to take advantage of Windows
Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 to manage increased workloads in physical and virtual environments
with one consistent platform for on-premises and off-premises solutions. Todays SAP customers are
usingor are planning fora combination of on-premises and off-premises IT resources and tools,
resulting in hybrid environments that comprise on-premises and cloud environments. With Windows
Server 2012, SQL Server 2012, and System Center 2012, SAP customers can protect their existing
investment in on-premises applications as they begin to move to the cloud, and can take a unified
approach to managing their applications and data. The following capabilities in Windows Server 2012
and System Center 2012 help provide the flexibility to build and deploy hybrid applications on-premises
and in the cloud:

Programming symmetry provides the ability to use the same development model across
Windows Server 2012 and Windows Azure, including common development tools that offer a
more complete environment for building cloud and on-premises applications.

Cross-premises connectivity for hybrid scenarios enables enterprises to connect to private

subnetworks in a hosted cloud network. It allows for VPN site-to-site functionality in remote
access, and provides cross-premises connectivity between enterprises and hosting service
providers.

Virtual machine portability offers the ability to provision, manage, and move virtual machine
images across Windows Server 2012 and Windows Azure.

A single pane of glass for managing virtual machines with System Center 2012 empowers SAP
customers to manage and run applications across private and public cloud environments, offering
full visibility and control to deploy, manage, and consume applications.

16 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Additional Benefits
Organizations that take advantage of SAP on Microsoft with Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012
can experience the following benefits:

The SAP on Microsoft platform enables organizations to take advantage of Microsofts extensive
productivity applications to extend SAP business processes beyond the core ERP system.

Duet Enterprise, a product jointly developed by SAP and Microsoft, combines the collaboration
and productivity supported by Microsoft SharePoint with the business data and business
processing functionality of SAP applications.

The SAP on Microsoft platform also enables productivity gains by providing the analytical power
of Microsoft Excel. As part of the Microsoft platform, Excel provides users with a familiar
experience that enables them to achieve rapid data exploration and discovery.

Microsoft provides common development toolsets, such as .NET, which help ensure synergies
between the productivity space and the platform. Common tools help improve an organizations
time-to-solution and reduce the overhead of multiple development tools.

Microsoft and SAP solutions help organizations to integrate new technologies, like social analytics
and Big Data, using customer data to make better decisions.

17 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

Resources
The following resources provide additional information about Microsoft and SAP solutions and their
benefits:

SAP Community Network: SAP on SQL Server:

http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/mss

Microsoft and SAP Alliance:

http://www.microsoft.com/isv/sap/technology/platform/sql.aspx

MSDN: Running SAP Applications on SQL Server Blog:

http://blogs.msdn.com/saponsqlserver/

TechNet: Virtualization Blog:

http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/

Server and Cloud Platform:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server/default.aspx

SQL Server 2012 Mission Critical Confidence:

http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/solutions-technologies/SQL-Server-2012-missioncritical-confidence.aspx

Thomas, Juergen. SQL Server 2012 Technologies for SAP Solutions. Microsoft. April 2012.
http://ecohub.sap.com/api/resource/4fabc95ad2a87c2a63d2b792.
2

Thomas, Juergen. SQL Server 2012 Technologies for SAP Solutions. Microsoft. April 2012.
http://ecohub.sap.com/api/resource/4fabc95ad2a87c2a63d2b792.
3

Spies, Ruediger. Migrating Infrastructure for SAP Environments away from Unix/RISC. IDC. August 2009.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/D/4/9D4FDAAF-8C21-453D-BAB1-472DE5F1E68B/2009-0817%20MSFT%20SAP%20Migration%20White%20paper%20IDC.PDF
4

Spies, Ruediger. Migrating Infrastructure for SAP Environments away from Unix/RISC. IDC. August 2009.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/D/4/9D4FDAAF-8C21-453D-BAB1-472DE5F1E68B/2009-0817%20MSFT%20SAP%20Migration%20White%20paper%20IDC.PDF
5

Why SAP + Microsoft? Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/partners/SAP/sap-partnership.aspx

Microsoft and SAP a 20-Year Partnership. http://www.microsoft.com/global/enterprise/PublishingImages/partners/Timeline_Image.png

IGT: Gaming Equipment Company Achieves Four-Month ROI with Move from Oracle to SQL Server. Microsoft Case Studies. November
2010. http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-SQL-Server-2005-Standard-Edition/IGT/Gaming-Equipment-Company-AchievesFour-Month-ROI-with-Move-from-Oracle-to-SQL-Server/4000008640
8

Total Economic Impact Of SQL Server 2012 Upgrade. A Forrester Total Economic Impact Study Prepared for Microsoft. March 2012.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/8/5/1858EA16-FD8A-46E6-88C84A8275C3AC4F/Total_Economic_Impact_SQL_Server_2012_Upgrade_Mar2012.pdf
9

Windows Server 2012 Rapid Deployment Program. Microsoft. June 2012. http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/3/0/B301FE04ABAB-4C89-8631-0FCBE4147B84/WindowsServer2012_TCO_Study_Whitepaper.docx
10

Microsoft SQL Server TCO Study for SAP ERP Customers. Microsoft. February 2009.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/4/0/140FC011-702E-44F6-BC432775BF3E89D5/Microsoft%20TCO%20Study%20for%20SAP%20ERP-Jan09.pdf
11

NEC dup: IT Company Boosts Stability and Cuts IT Costs by 20 Percent with New Management System. Microsoft Case Studies. July 2011.
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-SQL-Server-2008/NEC/IT-Company-Boosts-Stability-and-Cuts-IT-Costs-by-20-Percentwith-New-Management-System/4000010158

18 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012

12

Mitsui & Co., LTD: Trading Firm Standardizes on IT System Running in Innovative Private Cloud. Microsoft Case Studies. March 2012.
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-SQL-Server-2008/Mitsui-Co.-LTD/Trading-Firm-Standardizes-on-IT-System-Running-inInnovative-Private-Cloud/4000010234
13

Quanta Computer: Quanta Facilitates Data Growth, Savings, and Performance with Microsoft Platform. Microsoft Case Studies. August
2011. http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Windows-Server-2008-R2-Enterprise/Quanta-Computer/Quanta-Facilitates-Data-GrowthSavings-and-Performance-with-Microsoft-Platform/4000010953
14

Partezis IT Services Firm Migrates from Oracle to Support Business Growth and Lower TCO. Microsoft Case Studies. December 2011.
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-SQL-Server-2008-R2-Enterprise/Partezis/IT-Services-Firm-Migrates-from-Oracle-toSupport-Business-Growth-and-Lower-TCO/4000011532
15

Benchmark Results: Redknee TCB Running on SQL Server 2012 and Intel-Based Servers Scales to 250 Million Subscribers. Microsoft.
http://blogs.technet.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-85-48-WhitePapers/8228.RedkneeBenchmark-Solution-Brief-with-XIO-NEC-INTEL.pdf
16

KAS BANK: Bank Builds a Service-Oriented Architecture to Enhance Agility and Reduce Costs. Microsoft Case Studies. June 2010.
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-SQL-Server-2008-Enterprise/KAS-BANK/Bank-Builds-a-Service-Oriented-Architecture-toEnhance-Agility-and-Reduce-Costs/4000007539
17

Choice Hotels International: Hospitality Firm Improves Business Insight and Availability with Database Solution. Microsoft Case Studies.
October 2012. http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-SQL-Server-2012-Enterprise/Choice-Hotels-International/Hospitality-FirmImproves-Business-Insight-and-Availability-with-Database-Solution/710000001516
18

Wei Chuan Foods Corporation: Food Manufacturer Keeps Competitive Edge and Improves Support for Growing Business. Microsoft Case
Studies. March 2012. http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-SQL-Server-2012-Enterprise/Wei-Chuan-Food-Corporation/FoodManufacturer-Keeps-Competitive-Edge-and-Improves-Support-for-Growing-Business/710000000330
19

Microsoft Information Technology Group (MSIT): Microsoft Uses SQL Server 2012 5.8-Terabyte SAP ERP Database to Run Its Global
Business. Microsoft Case Studies. March 2012. http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-SQL-Server-2012-Enterprise/MicrosoftInformation-Technology-Group-MSIT/Microsoft-Uses-SQL-Server-2012-5.8-Terabyte-SAP-ERP-Database-to-Run-Its-GlobalBusiness/710000000346
20

Certification: SAP Standard Application Benchmarks. SAP. October 2012.

http://download.sap.com/download.epd?context=40E2D9D5E00EEF7C05DA3AB49C0C6315FA64703E9055EC31F60A730C4B345AC8
21

Certification: SAP Standard Application Benchmarks. SAP. November 2005.

http://download.sap.com/download.epd?context=40E2D9D5E00EEF7CE0C0231D3565B96A24AE295628EB641B277C9FD9A42861F8
22

Microsoft Case Studies. Wei Chuan Foods Corporation: Food Manufacturer Keeps Competitive Edge and Improves Support for Growing
Business. March 2012. http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-SQL-Server-2012-Enterprise/Wei-Chuan-Food-Corporation/FoodManufacturer-Keeps-Competitive-Edge-and-Improves-Support-for-Growing-Business/710000000330
23

Mediterranean Shipping Company: Shipper Supports Expansion by Boosting Speed, Control, and Savings with Microsoft. Microsoft Case
Studies. December 2011. http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-SQL-Server-2012/Mediterranean-Shipping-Company/ShipperSupports-Expansion-by-Boosting-Speed-Control-and-Savings-with-Microsoft/4000011460
24

Thomas, Juergen. SQL Server 2012 Technologies for SAP Solutions. Microsoft. April 2012.
http://ecohub.sap.com/api/resource/4fabc95ad2a87c2a63d2b792
25

SQL Server 2012 Performance Benchmarks, Microsoft. April 2012. http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/A/7/6A7D9A40-89444ACB-BD8D-91D97E3BACF7/SQL_Server_2012_Datasheet_Benchmark%20Performance_Apr2012.pdf

26

Using SQL Server Database Compression with SAP NetWeaver. SAP. May 2011.
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/50c5de8f-282a-2e10-cb8aa5859a0994a4?QuickLink=index&overridelayout=true
27

Microsoft Virtualization & Private Cloud Trends. Infographic. Microsoft. http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/9/F/E9F0EB00-A4934102-A05F-54A33A7E979A/MSFT-Infograph-Virtualization-and-Private-Cloud-Trends.pdf

28

Why Hyper-V? ITPrOla. September 2012. http://blogs.technet.com/b/itprola/archive/2012/09/05/summary-competitive-advantages-ofwindows-server-2012-hyper_2d00_v-over-vmware-vsphere-5.1.aspx

29

FlexFrame on Windows for SAP. Fujitsu Technology Solutions GmbH. http://globalsp.ts.fujitsu.com/dmsp/Publications/public/FlyerFFWinSAP-en-screen.pdf

19 SAP On Microsoft Windows Server 2012 And SQL Server 2012