1

SAP NetWeaver 7.3

What is new and
how to upgrade
Dr. Berg
Comerit Inc.
2011 Wellesley Information Services. All rights reserved.

In This Session
In this session, we take a look at the major new features of
SAP BW 7.3.
We also examine the new upgrade tools and take a step-bystep look at what is required to upgrade a SAP BW system to
version 7.3
Finally, we look at an example
on how to minimize upgrade
risks while also changing the
hardware during the upgrade.
Worth
WorthPondering:
Pondering:
System
Systemcomplexity
complexityisis
increasing,
increasing,while
whileattention
attention
spans
spansare
aredecreasing
decreasing

What Well Cover

SAP BW 7.3 Overview

New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities
The new Semantic partition (SPO) Options
The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data
Faster Data Load and New Design Options
Front-end and Security Benefits
New in-Memory Possibilities with BW 7.3 and BWA 7.2
Planning and Executing the Upgrade
Wrap-up

The Reason for Upgrading

SAP BW

7.3 was released on May 30, 2011 and has been

extensively tested.
Beta Shipment started in July 2010; Ramp Up started on the
29th
2010.
BWof November
Release
End of mainstream
Version
1.0E
1.2A
1.2B
2.0A
2.0B
2.1C
3.0A
3.0B
3.1C
3.2
3.3
3.5
2004S
7.0
(~"7.1")
7.3

Date
Dec-98
Feb-99
Jun-99
Feb-00
Aug-00
Dec-00
Nov-01
May-02
Nov-02
Mar-03
Aug-03
Mar-04
Jun-07

maintenance
Jan-99
Jun-99
Jun-04
Feb-05
Dec-05
Dec-05
Dec-05
Dec-06
Dec-06
Dec-06
Dec-06
Mar/Dec-10
Dec-10

Dec-08
May-11

Dec-12
May-16

ade:
r
g
p
u
n for
o
s
a
e
d to!
#1 r
a
h
I
use
Beca

BW
BWhas
hasnow
nowbeen
beenaround
aroundfor
for
over
over12
12years!!
years!!
5

BW 7.3 Release History and Testing

Seven customers and nine service partners participated
on the beta testing. The beta testing ended in November,
2010 with the following scores:
Very Good

Low Value

BW 7.3 Functional 1
Completeness

Assistance and Support

BW 7.3 Quality & Reliability

Very Satisfied

BW 7.3 Ease of Installation 1

and Configuration

Had Major Issues

BW
BW7.3
7.3was
wastested
testedextensively
extensivelyininaabeta
beta
program
programand
andininramp-up
ramp-upfor
foralmost
almostone
oneyear!
year!

Ease of Installation & Upgrade- Wizards and the ASU toolbox

A major new feature of SAP BW is the ability to use a Wizard to
install the system.

This include the following Wizard templates:

ABAP Stack initial setup.
Connectivity initial setup
Templates for automated configuration
Business Suite-7 integration
Technical content reports for Initial Setup
Upgrade step-by-step (note: 1000009)

You
Youcan
canchoose
choosetoto
use
useboth
bothan
anJava
Java
and/or
and/oraaABAP
ABAPstack
stack
when
wheninstalling
installing7.3
7.3
7

NEW: Specific Database Support IBM DB2

IBM DB2: 7.3 supports specific database features:
DB2

v9.5 supports PSA, DSO and fact table compressions for reduced disk volume

(integrates with DB2 storage management)

Support

for MDC clustering in the DB Cockpit. This is available in v9.5.2. or higher

and default for all DSO tables and PSA in version 9.7
Much
DB2

faster request deletion if MDC clustering is used

v9.7 supports Index compressions for reduced disk volume

Support

for IBM DB2s DPF (Database Partitioning Feature)

In
Inthe
thepast,
past,BW
BWhas
hasbeen
beenunable
unableto
totake
takeadvantage
advantageof
ofvendor
vendorspecific
specific
database
databasefeatures.
features.This
Thisisischanged
changed&&workarounds
workaroundsare
areless
lessneeded.
needed.
8

What Well Cover

SAP BW 7.3 Overview

New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities
The new Semantic partition (SPO) Options
The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data
Faster Data Load and New Design Options
Front-end and Security Benefits
New in-Memory Possibilities with BW 7.3 and BWA 7.2
Planning and Executing the Upgrade
Wrap-up

New 7.3 Performance and Admin Monitoring Capabilities

New monitors include:
Monitor of database usage and object sizes (i.e. InfoCubes, DSOs)
Query usage statistics are more visible (similar to RSRT, RSRV, RSTT)
We can see more of the use of BWA and sizes
Monitor for the actual use of OLAP/MDX Cache and hit ratios
You can now selectively delete internal statistics in RSDDSTATWHM by
date through the updated RSDDSTAT_DATA_DELETE ABAP program.
There is also a new MDX Editor for coding and syntax assistance

Solution
SolutionManager
Managerhas
has
also
alsobeen
beenupdated
updatedto
to
take
takeadvantage
advantageof
of
these
thesenew
newmonitors.
monitors.
10

New 7.3 Performance and Admin Monitoring Capabilities

Other New monitors include:
DEAMON

update information (i.e. RDA capacity status, usage)

A performance monitoring workbench for performance trends
Process chain monitoring (new transaction: RSPCM) with error
and active chain monitoring, user specific displays, and
performance threshold monitoring (i.e. for SLAs)

NLS:
NLS:InInBW
BW7.3
7.3the
theNear
Near
Line
LineStorage
Storagehas
hasalso
alsobe
be
enhanced
enhancedtotoinclude
include
archiving,
archiving,support
supportfor
for
write
optimized
DSOs
write optimized DSOsand
and
database
support
for
tools
database support for tools
such
suchas
asDB2
DB2Viper
Viper(v9.5)
(v9.5)
and
much
more
and much more
11

What Well Cover

SAP BW 7.3 Overview

New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities
The new Semantic partition (SPO) Options
The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data
Faster Data Load and New Design Options
Front-end and Security Benefits
New in-Memory Possibilities with BW 7.3 and BWA 7.2
Planning and Executing the Upgrade
Wrap-up

12

Semantic Partitioned Objects (SPO)

When data stores and InfoCubes are allowed to grow over time the data
load and query performance suffers.
Normally objects should be physically partitioned when the numbers of
records exceed 100 million. However, this may be different depending on
the size of your hardware and the type of database you use.
In BW 7.3 we get an option to create a Semantic Partitioned Object (SPO)
through wizards. You can partition based on fields such as calendar
year, region, country etc.

13

Semantic Partitioned Objects (SPO)

When a SPO is created, a reference structure keeps track of the
partitions. The structure is placed in the MultiProvider for querying.

Source: SAP AG, 2011

SPO
SPOWizards
Wizardscreate
createall
allData
DataTransfer
TransferProcesses
Processes(DTP),
(DTP),transformations,
transformations,
filters
filtersfor
foreach
eachdata
datastore
storeand
andaaprocess
processchain
chainautomatically.
automatically.
14

What Well Cover

SAP BW 7.3 Overview

New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities
The new Semantic partition (SPO) Options
The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data
Faster Data Load and New Design Options
Front-end and Security Benefits
New in-Memory Possibilities with BW 7.3 and BWA 7.2
Planning and Executing the Upgrade
Wrap-up

15

The New Hybrid Provider and Real Time Data

The "HybridProvider" (HP) is new in BW v7.3. The core idea is to link the
historical data inside BW with real-time data.
There are two ways of implementing a HP:
HP based on a DSO
HP based on a Virtual InfoCube

Option 1: The DSO Based HybridProvider

Core Features:
Real-time data is in the DSO and historical data in the BWA based InfoCube
The DSO use real-time data acquisition (RDA) to load data
BW automatically creates a process chain for the HybridProvder's data flow
The process chain is executed for every closed request

This
Thissolution
solutionprovides
providesfor
forreally
reallyfast
fastqueries,
queries,but
butdelta
deltalogic
logichas
hastotobe
becustom
customdesigned
designed

Option 1: The DSO Based HybridProvider

This solution provides for really fast queries, but delta logic has to
be custom designed and may be complex. However, the solution
allows for high-frequency updates and very rapid query response.

This
Thisisisaagood
goodoption
optionifif
you
youhave
haveaalow
lowvolume
volumeofof
new
newrecords
recordsand
andaahigh
high
number
numberofofqueries
queriesoror
operational
operationaldashboards
dashboards

Option 2: The Virtual Cube Based HybridProvider

Core Features:
Data is read in real-time from ECC, while historical data is read from BWA
The difference depends on how often BWA is loaded
Non-complex data logic can be applied
DTP is permitted if you do not filter the data set

NOTE:
NOTE:Virtual
Virtualcubes
cubeswith
withmany
manyusers
usersmay
mayplace
placehigh-stress
high-stresson
onthe
theERP
ERPsystem
system

What Well Cover

SAP BW 7.3 Overview

New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities
The new Semantic partition (SPO) Options
The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data
Faster Data Load and New Design Options
Front-end and Security Benefits
New in-Memory Possibilities with BW 7.3 and BWA 7.2
Planning and Executing the Upgrade
Wrap-up

Hint for Experts: The search feature in the BW 7.3

Admin Workbench has been improved so that it is
easier to search more items such as process chains.
20

Faster Data Load and New Design Options - Activation

During activation, BW 7.0 has to lookup in the NIRV table to see if the object
already exist. This can be a slow process.
In BW 7.0 we may buffer the number ranges to compare the data load with
records in-memory. This speeds up data activation.
However, in BW 7.3 the data activation is changed from single lookups to
package fetch of the active table, resulting in faster activation and less locks
on the lookup tables. The new method may result in 15-30% faster data
activation (20-40% in-lab tests).
For data transformations the option Read from DataStore for a faster data
look-up is also available. In addition, the use of navigational attributes as
sources in Masterdata transformations reduce overhead for lookups.
Combined, this may lead to an additional 10-20% improvement.
The
The7.3
7.3initial
initialload
loadruntime
runtimeoption
optionInsert
Insertonly
onlyand
andthe
theUnique
Unique
data
datarecords
recordsonly
onlyprevents
preventsall
alllook-ups
look-upsduring
duringactivation
activation

21

New Data Design Options Delta, Init and WebServices

In NW 7.3 you can create
generic delta extraction for the
Universal Data (UD) & Database
Connect (DB) options, as well as
for flat files.
In addition you can the new
DataSource adapter Web
Service Pull to load data from
external web services. You can even create generic WebServices delta loads,
and load the new data straight into the staging area of BW 7.3.
While web services does not support hierarchies yet, there is now integration
of hierarchies into the standard process flow such as transformation and
DTPs, as well as being able to load hierarchies from flat file using a new
DataSource.
When
Whenyou
youuse
usedelta
deltaloads,
loads,the
thefirst
firsttime
timeBW
BW7.3
7.3automatically
automatically
defines
definesititan
aninit
initload
loadafter
afterthat
thatititautomatically
automaticallyswitches
switchesto
to
delta
deltaas
asthe
theInfoPackage
InfoPackagemode
mode(no
(noneed
needto
todefine
defineititanymore!)
anymore!)

22

New Options - ETL Interface and Shut-Downs

SAP BW 7.3 has a new interface to
create and manage data flows
graphically in a 'drag-and-drop'
manner, including:
Data

Flow Copy to copy data

flows and process chains.

Data

Flow Migration to migrate, or

reverse migrate, data flows with
automatic adoption of
InfoPackages and process chains

Data

Flow Wizard to automatically

create complete data flows from a
DataSource

Source: SAP AG, 2011

NEW:
NEW:use
useRS_SYSTEM_SHUTDOWN
RS_SYSTEM_SHUTDOWNtotorestart
restartan
anapplication
applicationserver
serverand
and
suspend
suspendRDA
RDAand
andprocess
processchains
chainsand
andre-start
re-startthem
themininaacontrolled
controlledmanner.
manner.
Data
Dataloads
loadsare
arenot
notininflux
fluxand
andyou
youdo
donot
nothave
havetotoclean
cleanup
uppartial
partialloads.
loads.

23

What Well Cover

SAP BW 7.3 Overview

New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities
The new Semantic partition (SPO) Options
The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data
Faster Data Load and New Design Options
Front-end and Security Benefits
New in-Memory Possibilities with BW 7.3 and BWA 7.2
Planning and Executing the Upgrade
Wrap-up

24

Security Changes and New Mass Change Feature

When companies upgraded from BW
version 3.5 to 7.0, security migration
was optional and many did only a
technical upgrade and kept the
'obsolete authorization' concept. A
security migration is now required.
Great BW 7.3 Security Admin
Feature: you can make mass
changes to authorizations
instead of one-by-one. This can
be done by cut-and-paste in a
worklist, hierarchy nodes, and
you can also add users to
multiple analysis authorizations
SAP recommends to migrate to the new concept before
upgrading a 7.0 system. (Notes: 931898; 938871; 946724, 958665; 1001652)

25

Security features in BW 7.0 and 7.3

Some companies did not do a security conversion in BW 7.0 since items
such as 0TCTAUTHH did not migrate (manually reassigned for the
hierarchies) and passwords became case sensitive. Now it is required.
SAP still have the ABAP migration tool in BW 7.0. It can be used in SA38
(RSEC_MIGRATION) and migration can occur before the upgrade.

Authorizations
Authorizationsare
arebuilding
building
blocks
blocksofofthe
the7.0/7.3
7.0/7.3
reporting
reportingconcept
conceptand
and
security
securitycontains
containsboth
boththe
the
data
datavalue
valueand
andhierarchy
hierarchy
restrictions.
restrictions.
Security
Securitycan
canbe
bebuilt
builtusing
using
RSECADMIN
RSECADMINtransaction
transaction
26

BW 7.0 and 7.3 Authorization Objects

Authorization objects for the Data Warehousing Workbench:
After the required
S_RS_DS: For the DataSource or its sub objects (BI 7.x)
S_RS_ISNEW: For new InfoSources or their sub objects (NW BI 7.x) security conversion you
have access to lower
S_RS_DTP: For the data transfer process and its sub objects
S_RS_TR: For transformation rules and their sub objects
security granularity for
S_RS_CTT: For currency translation types
developers and users.
S_RS_UOM: For quantity conversion types
S_RS_THJT: For key date derivation types
S_RS_PLENQ: Authorizations for maintaining or displaying the lock settings
S_RS_RST: Authorization object for the RS trace tool
S_RS_PC: For process chains
S_RS_OHDEST: Open Hub Destination
Authorization objects for the Business Explorer:
S_RS_DAS: For Data Access Services
S_RS_BTMP: For BEx Web templates
S_RS_BEXTX: Authorizations for the maintenance of BEx texts
Authorization objects for the Admin of analysis authorizations
S_RSEC: Authorization for assignment and administration of analysis authorizations
S_RS_AUTH: Authorization object to include analysis authorizations in roles
Changed Authorization Objects:
S_RS_ADMWB (Data Warehousing Workbench: Objects):
New sub objects:
CONT_ACT Installing Business Content; USE_DND - Drag & Drop to InfoAreas and
application components; CNG_RUN - Attribute change run

27

What Well Cover

SAP BW 7.3 Overview

New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities
The new Semantic partition (SPO) Options
The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data
Faster Data Load and New Design Options
Front-end and Security Benefits
New in-Memory Possibilities with BW 7.3 and BWA 7.2
Planning and Executing the Upgrade
Wrap-up

28

CompositeProviders: Unions of indexes in BWA

With 7.3 you get a tool to create a new CompositeProvider to
join indices inside the BWA system.
This works similar to MultiProviders, but can be modeled ad-hoc
and the joins are executed inside BWA and not inside the BW
Analytical Engine (this is much faster)

Source: SAP AG, 2011

All
AllBW
BW7.3
7.3CompositeProviders,
CompositeProviders,DSOs,
DSOs,MultiProviders
MultiProviders&&InfoCubes
InfoCubesare
areavailable
available
as
asInfoProviders
InfoProvidersfor
forquerying.
querying.Even
Evenqueries
queriescan
canbe
bedefined
definedas
asInfoProviders.
InfoProviders.
29

In Memory Processing - BWA 7.2 and BW 7.3

BIG DEAL! - In BW 7.3 you can
also build analytical indexes.
These are simply 'data
containers' from APD that is
stored in BWA. You can build
queries on them
Using the Index Designer in
BOBJ Data Services, you can
also index data from external
data files and data bases and
query it in SAP Business
Warehouse 7.3.

ItItisisimportant
importantto
tonote
notethat
that
currently,
currently,the
theBO
BOindexes
indexesare
are
on
ondedicated
dedicatedHW
HWblades.
blades.

30

The New SAP BW 7.3 Features Modeling in BWA 7.2

With BW 7.3 and BWA
7.2 you can complete
many of the joins and
the aggregation that
previously was
conducted in the BI
Analytical engine, and
was therefore hard to
performance tune.
It also reduces the data
being transferred to the
app-server and
therefore are much
faster as well.

The New SAP BWA 7.2 / BW 7.3 Faster Performance

Source: SAP AG, 2011

The major benefit of the BWA 7.2 on BW 7.3 is that you can
move more of the calculation over to the accelerator and
materialize the result in-memory. This improves the reads
and calculations in the OLAP/ BI analytical engine on the
BW side is substantially reduced.
The
Thefollowing
followingcalculations
calculationsisisincluded
includedininBW
BW7.3
7.3/ / BWA
BWA7.2
7.2
SUM
CNT
SUM MIN
MINMAX
MAX
CNT(count
(countall
alldetailed
detailedvalues)
values)
CN0
CN0(Count
(Countall
allvalues
valuesnot
notzero
zeroor
ornull)
null)AVG
AVG(average)
(average)
AV0
AV0(Average
(Averagefor
forall
allvalues
valuesnot
notzero
zeroor
ornull)
null)

The SAP BW 7.3/BWA 7.2 Limitations and Query Settings

There are still some limitations. For example you cannot use
the exception aggregation for single key figures in BWA if it
uses:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Virtual key figures

Conversion before aggregation
Formula calculation before aggregation
Non-cumulative key figures
Key figures with elimination of internal business volume

You also get more detailed

control on each query as to how
it reads the BWA. Think of it as
similar to Query read modes
(more details at SDN :
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/7095000
3-f7ef-2d10-b1bc-ee483800b25c?QuickLink=index&overridelayout=true

What Well Cover

SAP BW 7.3 Overview

New Administrative Cockpit Capabilities
The new Semantic partition (SPO) Options
The HybridProvider and Real-Time Data
Faster Data Load and New Design Options
Front-end and Security Benefits
New in-Memory Possibilities with BW 7.3 and BWA 7.2
Planning and Executing the Upgrade
Wrap-up

34

Some Upgrade Options and Java Stack Recommendations

NW Java 7.3 is now included,
and it is suggested that ABAP
and Java Stack is split if not
already done so. A tool to split
the stack is available in EhP2
(in SAPInst) and in SAPInst in
ABAP 7.30.

Option 1

Recommended

Option 2

This gives better scalability

(multiple hardware servers).
Double stack upgrade is still
possible.
The java server is not used for
IP after BW 7.30 (re-developed in
ABAP HTTP)

You
Youcan
canautomatically
automaticallycreate
create
connections
connectionsbetween
betweenJava-ABAP
Java-ABAP
for
forEP/IP
EP/IPororfront-end
front-endJava
Javausing
using
CTC
CTC(notes:
(notes:983156,
983156,1178800)
1178800)

Recommended

Option 3

Upgrade Decision: Low, Standard and High Resources

A major decision is: Are you going to
minimize the system down-time, or
doing a low resource upgrade. The
trade-off is between using more
system resources, or downtime.
In the 'standard' upgrade, we create a shadow system, while the BW system
is still operating. We turn off any archiving to make sure we do not miss any
data, and do our system backup right before the downtime starts. Therefore
we can do much of the upgrade before the downtime (shorten the outage).
In a very high system resource upgrade, we also use a shadow system, but
imports are much faster and we can keep archiving on (may create large
logs), but downtime starts earlier.
Most
Mostcompanies
companiesshould
shoulduse
usethe
thestandard
standardupgrade
upgrademethod,
method,
unless
unlesstheir
theirsystem
systemisisvery
verysmall
smallororhave
havelimited
limitedresources.
resources.For
For
those,
those,the
theshadow
shadowsystem
systemisiscreated
createdduring
duringthe
thedowntime.
downtime.

36

System Switch Upgrade and Shadow Systems

Application Data

You can use a shadow

system to reduce the
system outage.

SAP BW
7.3

- -High
Highsystem
systemresource
resource- -locks
locks
system
systemininthe
theREPACHK2
REPACHK2phase
phase
- -Standard
Standardsystem
systemresource
resource- -locks
locks
system
systemininthe
theREPACHK2
REPACHK2phase
phase
- -Low
Lowsystem
systemresource
resource- -locks
locks
system
systemininthe
theLOCKEU_PRE
LOCKEU_PREphase
phase

XPRA

Import &
Data Conversion

Target Release
System

Also, by doing a hardware

switch/ upgrade, we can
minimize any impact to
Shadow
the production system
System
(reduced upgrade risk).

(note:
(note:851449)
851449)

Target Release

Application Data
Source
Release

Target
Release

Source Release
System

Target Release
System
SPDD
Shadow System Installation

Application
Data

BW 7.0
EhP1

Target
Release

BW
BW7.0
7.0

37

Upgrade Resources
Team Lead

Basis
resource

Technical reviewer
BW Developer

Upgrade Support
External

Regression Testers

A Dedicated team with a technical team lead (100%), a Basis resource

(100%) and a technical reviewer/tester (100% is required).

In addition, a dedicated go-to resource for technical issues is

recommended. This should be an individual that have solid knowledge
about the upgrade and have done his before.

Regression testing is required on behalf or the user community. This

should be coordinated with the Power Users or existing developers.

38

The Upgrade Execution and Clean-up

To reduce the overall size: clean the PSA, delete log-files and objects
not needed (i.e. DSOs and InfoCubes), empty aggregates etc.

You are now ready to launch the upgrade front-end that will take you
through all the steps of the NW 7.3 upgrade.

Remember
Remember to
toalso
alsoselect
selectthe
thenew
newBI
BI
content
content package
packageas
as part
part of
of your
your upgrade.
upgrade.
39

The Upgrade Interface

While the upgrade interface is simplified, there is still a need

to thoroughly understand how to setup connectivity,
hardware and shadow systems.
This not a
place to
"experiment"
and "explore"
options..
SAP
SAPhas
hasaagreat
great
step-by-step
step-by-step'wizard'
'wizard'
tool
to
help
with
tool to help withthe
the
7.3
7.3upgrade.
upgrade.
40

Step-1 - Planning the Upgrade and getting started

1. Stop all Deamon Process - RSRDA

2. Remove all temporary database objects - SAP_DROP_TMPTABLES
3. Run the upgrade check - RSUPGRCHECK
4. If you copied your system from Prod, check the storage - SECSTORE
5. Make sure all objects and programs has a library entry - TLIBG
6. Create an XML file for the new stack in Sol. Mgr
Planning
Planningthe
theUpgrade
Upgradeisisaasignificant
significanttask
taskand
andititisisimportant
importantto
tostart
start
ininan
anorganized
organizedmanner.
manner.ALWAYS;
ALWAYS;read
readthe
theSAP
SAPnotes
notesfor
foryour
your
database,
database,OS
OSand
andNW
NWrelease
releaseprior
priorto
tostarting
startingthese
theseactivities.
activities.
41

ASU Provide a list of pre- and post upgrade tasks

Some of the manual preparation steps

Some of the manual follow-up steps

There
Thereis
isalso
alsosupport
supportfor
fordocumentation
documentationof
ofeach
eachtask.
task.Team
Team
members
memberscan
canconsolidate
consolidatetheir
theircomments,
comments,test
testresults
resultsand
and
outcomes.
outcomes.This
Thisreduce
reducethe
thenumber
numberof
ofemails
emailsand
andeveryone
everyone
can
cansee
seewhat
whathas
hasbeen
beendone
doneand
andsee
seeresults
resultsin
inone
oneplace.
place.

42

Step -2: Getting the Files Key you need

1. Select the update option for your system

2. Select the stack you want to update (make sure you are connected)
3. Select the target system you want to upgrade to (NW 7.3)
4. Select all files for the operating system and database you have
5. Select the files for the stack (all)

There
Thereare
aresome
somedifferent
differentfiles
filesrequired
requiredfor
foreach
eachtype
typeof
ofdatabase,
database,
operating
operatingsystem
systemand
andstacks.
stacks.Make
Makesure
sureyou
youcollect
collectthe
theright
rightversions.
versions.
43

Step -3: Downloading the files

This may sound like a simple step, but some organizations

may experience slow networks, internal network timeouts
or long waits depending on peak loads on their network.

You
Youmay
mayconsider
considerdoing
doingthis
thisin
inthe
theevening
evening
after
aftereveryone
everyonehas
hasgone
gonehome.
home.

44

Step -5: The Lock down and Preprocessing

While, technically you have not yet locked

the system, configuration changes to
process chains, info packages & queries
are no longer possible after this step

The real lock-down of the BW system

takes place when the pre-processing step
is complete. After this the system is
unavailable for users.

There
Thereare
aremany
manysteps
stepsbetween
betweenthese
theseoptions.
options.The
Thebest
besttiming
timingmay
maybe
be
totocomplete
completeall
alltasks
tasksfrom
fromstep
step11through
through55before
beforeFriday's
Friday's5pm
5pmwhen
when
you
youmay
maybe
beable
abletotobring
bringthe
thesystem
systemdown.
down.Make
Makesure
sureyou
youdo
doaa
system
systembackup
backupbefore
beforeyou
youproceed
proceedtotostep
step6!6!

45

Step -1: Hardware Install, Dev Copy & Sandbox upgrade

In this example, we are installing new
Hardware. This creates a lot of
flexibility and less project risk!
First, we copy the BW 7.0 development
box to the new hardware.

BW 7.0
Sandbox

BW 7.0
Dev. Box

BW 7.0
QA Box

1
An

BW 7.0
Prod Box

Ex

am

pl

BW 7.3
Sandbox

Second, we upgrade the new sandbox

in a controlled manner and document
all activities
We want to create a repeatable process, so no ad-hoc activities are
allowed. Remember, extra time has to be set aside for notes research
and unforeseen issues.
BENEFITS:
BENEFITS:this
thisisisalso
alsoaatest
testrun
runfor
forupgrading
upgradingthe
the
development
developmentbox
box(!),
(!),thereby
therebyreducing
reducingthe
theupgrade
upgraderisk.
risk.After
After
the
theupgrade
upgradewe
wealso
alsoget
getaarefreshed
refreshedsandbox
sandboxenvironment.
environment.

46
46

Step -2: Development box copy and upgrade

Now we have to freeze all development
activities.
Normally the work in the 7.0 dev box
ids transported to QA for testing and
the dev box is locked.

BW 7.0
Sandbox

BW 7.3
Sandbox

BW 7.0
Dev. Box

BW 7.0
QA Box

An

BW 7.0
Prod Box

Ex

am

pl

BW 7.3
Dev. Box

Using the upgrade script and all steps collected and written during the
sandbox upgrade, we are upgrading the new development box. This is
intended to be a structured approach that is repeatable.
The developers participate in in-depth testing of the new 7.3 dev. box.

BENEFITS:
BENEFITS:the
theoutage
outageofofthe
thedevelopment
developmentbox
boxoccurred
occurredafter
afterthe
thesandbox
sandbox
upgrade
upgradeand
andthe
thedevelopment
developmentoutage
outageisisminimized.
minimized.This
Thisisisalso
alsothe
thesecond
secondtime
time
we
wehave
haveupgraded
upgradedthe
thedevelopment
developmentbox,
box,so
soany
anyissues
issuesshould
shouldbe
bewell
wellknown.
known.

47
47

Step -3: Production box copy and QA upgrade

We copy production environment to
the development box after all testing in
the QA has been completed and all the
object has been transported to the
production system.

BW 7.0
Sandbox

BW 7.0
Dev. Box

BW 7.0
QA Box

BW 7.0
Prod Box

3
An

BW 7.3
Sandbox

BW 7.3
Dev. Box

am
x
E

e
pl

BW 7.3
QA Box

Notice that no copies of Sandbox, nor

QA is made. Instead we get to upgrade the development box and the
production box 'twice'.
This is a significant risk mitigation strategy, but it does require that
transports and client dependent objects are switched back on the new
Sandbox and QA systems.
BENEFITS:
BENEFITS:This
Thisapproach
approachturns
turnsthe
theQA
QAupgrade
upgradeinto
intoaareal
real'dress
'dressrehearsal'
rehearsal'for
for
the
theproduction
productionbox
boxupgrade.
upgrade.Also,
Also,since
sincewe
weare
areswitching
switchingthe
thehardware,
hardware,the
therisk
risk
to
tothe
theupgrade
upgradeininminimal
minimal(BW
(BW7.0
7.0prod
prodisisnot
nottaken
takenoff-line
off-lineuntil
untilafter
afterthe
the
upgrade).

48
48

Step -4: Production box copy and QA upgrade

You now are ready for the cutover
weekend.
The best timing is to start the
production box on Thursday evening
after the BW system has completed
data loads. A full backup is taken.

BW 7.0
Sandbox

BW 7.0
Dev. Box

2
An

BW 7.3
Sandbox

BW 7.3
Dev. Box

BW 7.0
QA Box

am
Ex

e
pl

BW 7.0
Prod Box

BW 7.3
QA Box

BW 7.3
Prod Box

The system is unavailable on Friday

and is completely upgraded by
Saturday 6am.
A major consideration is the time it
takes for Unicode conversion, unless
already done.
Plan
Planfor
forhaving
havingbasis
basisand
andtechnical
technicalpeople
peopleworking
workingthe
thenight
nightfrom
fromThursday
Thursdayto
to
Friday
Fridayand
andpossibly
possiblytotoSaturday,
Saturday,depending
dependinghow
howlong
longthe
theupgrade
upgradetakes.
takes.

49
49

Cut-Over to Production - Testing and Verification

The system verification takes place by testers on Saturday between 6
am and noon. A complete data load is executed by manually running the
process chains and data is also validated.
The RESTORE decision
A restore decision is made at 3 pm
on Saturday:
- If the system does not pass the validation,
the system is restored from backup
and will be ready by Monday 8am.
- If the system passes validation, the
process chains are scheduled and run
at normal scheduled times and data is
validated once more before declaring
success.
50

Some Useful Hints and Programs for older systems

If some of the InfoSets becomes inactive, you can still use the program
RSQ_ISET_MASS_OPERATIONS to activate all InfoSets.
If you are still on 3.5 queries, or older versions (i.e. 3.1c, 3.0B), consider
running the program RSR_GEN_DIRECT_ALL_QUERIES to regenerate all
queries in the system into the 7.0 release.
NW BI 7.0 had a new transformation concept that replaced transfer and
update rules, but not all companies has migrated. To do so, convert the
DataSources and the Persistent Staging Area to the new DTP process,
(SAP Note 906789). To test the conversion of the DataSources can also run:
RSSM_CREATE_REQDONE_FROM_SEL; RSSM_HASH_ENTRIES_CREATE for all
requests; RSSTATMAN_CHECK_CONVERT_DTA; RSSTATMAN_CHECK_CONVERT_PSA.

If you are upgrading from an old BW system and is going through BW

7.0 to upgrade to 7.3, redefine the BI Statistics, (notes 934848 & 964418).
Also, use SM37 in production to find any other jobs that are scheduled,
and make sure they are also tested
51

Resources

SAP NW 7.3 on Sap Developer Network

www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/nw-73

Unveiling SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse 7.3

by Lothar Henkes, SAP, SAPinsider - 2010 (Volume 11),
October (Issue 4)

Features list for the SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3

www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/edw?rid=/library/uuid/304444f7e02d-2d10-9c97-d5e3ecf09882

SAP NW 7.3 Business Content

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw73/helpdata/en/ca/6fbd3574
6dbd2de10000009b38f889/frameset.htm

Roadmap - SAP NetWEaver BW 7.3

http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/bw-73?

52

7 Key Points to Take Home

BW is a good version to upgrade on. It has been extensively

tested and is ready for 'prime time'.

The upgrade is technical and strong skills are required

Plan for how much of the new functionality you will deploy

You will need to spend time on security conversion if you have

not already done so.

The upgrade is unique, so don't rely of past experiences.

Complete an technical review before you start the upgrade. Plan

for hardware upgrade, database upgrade and server upgrades as
part of the BW upgrade.

Make sure you have access to experts and decide early how much
risk you can live with
53

Your Turn!

How to contact me:

Dr. Berg
Bberg@ComeritInc.com
54

Disclaimer
SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, SAP NetWeaver, Duet, PartnerEdge, and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their
respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product
and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Wellesley Information Services is neither owned nor controlled by
SAP.

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