Back in May, I discussed how technologies such as Windows Server 2012, Hyper-V, and System Center 2012 SP1, provide the most scalable, reliable, and feature-rich platform to run key, tier-1 workloads like SQL Server, SharePoint and Exchange, at the lowest cost.
To help customers virtualize these workloads, we’ve recently published a number of best practice whitepapers for the virtualization and management of SQL Server, SharePoint and Exchange, and we’ve also shared some phenomenal performance testing results which underscore that the Microsoft platform is unequivocally the best platform for virtualizing tier-1 workloads.
But I’m realistic – I understand that there are organizations who also run other tier-1 applications within their environments, and Microsoft wants to ensure that our customers can virtualize those other workloads with the same confidence they have when virtualizing Microsoft workloads.
One of the most common workloads within enterprise environments is SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), which is a solution that provides access to critical data, applications, and analytical tools, and it helps organizations streamline processes across procurement, manufacturing, service, sales, finance, and HR. For a demanding workload like SAP ERP, many of our customers assume that they will need to run the solution on physical servers – and this assumption is backed up by the large number of existing SAP benchmarks which highlight the huge scale and performance on a physical platform.
So what does that mean for customers who want to virtualize SAP ERP? Can it be virtualized successfullyand deliver the necessary levels of performance required for tier-1 applications?
The answer is unequivocally, yes.
I’m proud to announce that, on June 24th, 2013, through a close collaboration between SAP, HP and Microsoft, a new world record was achieved and certified by SAP for a three-tier SAP Sales and Distribution (SD) standard application benchmark, running on a 2-processor physical server.
The application benchmark resulted in 42,400 SAP SD benchmark users, 231,580 SAPS, and a response time of 0.99 seconds, showcasing phenomenal performance on just 2 physical sockets.
The best part? Not only was SAP ERP 6.0 (with Enhancement Package 5) running on SQL Server 2012, on Windows Server 2012 Datacenter, but the configuration was completely virtualized on Hyper-V. In addition, this is the first SAP benchmark with virtual machines configured with 32 virtual processors, and subsequently, the first with SQL Server running in a 32-way virtual machine. The result is also 30% higher than a previous 2-socket, virtualized configuration running on VMware vSphere 5.0.
It’s clear from this benchmark that with the massive scalability and enterprise features in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, along with HP’s ProLiant BL460c Gen8 servers, 3PAR StoreServ Storage and Virtual Connect networking capabilities, customers can virtualize their mission critical, tier-1 SAP ERP solution with confidence.
You can find the full details of the benchmark on the SAP Benchmark Site, and you can also read more information about running SAP on Windows Server, Hyper-V & SQL Server, over on the SAP on SQL Server Blog.
Note:
Benchmark performed in Houston, TX, USA on June 8, 2013. Results achieved 42,400 SAP Standard SD benchmark users, 231,580 SAPS and a response time of 0.99 seconds in a SAP three-tier configuration SAP EHP 5 for SAP ERP 6.0. Servers used for Application servers: 12 x ProLiant BL460c Gen8 with Intel Xeon E5-2680 @ 2.70GHz (2 processors/16 cores/32 threads) and 256GB using Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Datacenter on Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V. DBMS Server: 1 x ProLiant BL460c Gen8 with Intel Xeon E5-2680 @ 2.70GHz (2 processors/16 cores/32 threads) and 256GB using Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Datacenter on Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V using Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition
VMWare ESX 5.0 based benchmark performed in Houston, TX, USA on October 11, 2011. Results achieved 32,125 SAP Standard SD benchmark users, 175,320 SAPS and a response time of 0.99 seconds in a SAP three-tier configuration SAP EHP 4 for SAP ERP 6.0. Servers used for Application servers: 10 x ProLiant BL460c G7 with Intel Xeon X5675 @ 3.06GHz (2 processors/12 cores/24 threads) and 96 GB using Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Enterprise on VMWare ESX 5.0. DBMS Server: 1 x ProLiant BL460c G7 with Intel Xeon X5675 @ 3.06GHz (2 processors/12 cores/24 threads) and 96 GB using Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Enterprise on VMWare ESX 5.0 using Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition.