0

What you need to know to

plan and perform an SAP
NetWeaver BW 7.3 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-

by-step 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 Pondering:
System complexity is
increasing, while attention
spans are decreasing
2
What We’ll 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

3
 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 of November 2010.
BW Version Release Date End of mainstream maintenance
1.0E Dec-98 Jan-99
1.2A Feb-99 Jun-99
1.2B Jun-99 Jun-04
2.0A Feb-00 Feb-05
2.0B Aug-00 Dec-05
2.1C Dec-00 Dec-05
3.0A Nov-01 Dec-05
3.0B May-02 Dec-06
3.1C Nov-02 Dec-06
3.2 Mar-03 Dec-06
3.3 Aug-03 Dec-06
3.5 Mar-04 Mar/Dec-10
2004S Jun-07 Dec-10
7.0 (~"7.1") Dec-08 Dec-12 BW has now been around for
7.3 May-11 May-16 over 12 years!!
4
 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
1 2 3 4
Assistance and Support

1 2 3 4
BW 7.3 Quality & Reliability

BW 7.3 Functional 1 2 3 4
Completeness
Very Satisfied Had Major Issues
BW 7.3 Ease of Installation 1 2 3 4
and Configuration

BW 7.3 was tested extensively in a beta

program and in ramp-up for almost one year!
5
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.
You can choose to
 Connectivity initial setup
use both an Java
 Templates for automated configuration
 Business Suite-7 integration
and/or a ABAP stack
 Technical content reports for Initial Setup
when installing 7.3
 Upgrade step-by-step (note: 1000009)
6
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 faster request deletion if MDC clustering is used

 DB2 v9.7 supports Index compressions for reduced disk volume

 Support for IBM DB2’s DPF (Database Partitioning Feature)

In the past, BW has been unable to take advantage of vendor specific

database features. This is changed & workarounds are less needed.
7
What We’ll 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

8
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 Manager has

also been updated to
take advantage of
these new monitors.
9
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: In BW 7.3 the Near

Line Storage has also be
enhanced to include
archiving, support for
write optimized DSOs and
database support for tools
such as DB2 Viper (v9.5)
and much more

10
What We’ll 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

11
 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.

12
 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 Wizards create all Data Transfer Processes (DTP), transformations,

filters for each data store and a process chain automatically.
13
What We’ll 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

14
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

Real-Time Data
Acquisition HybridProvider

Transaction
RDA
Data
Real-Time
Indexing
Data
ECC
Acquisition
and
External Query
Systems
(real time)
BWA based
InfoCube
Direct
Direct
reads Access

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
Real-Time Data
Acquisition HybridProvider

Transaction
RDA
Data
Real-Time
Indexing
Data
ECC
Acquisition
and
External Query
Systems
(real time)
BWA based
InfoCube
Direct
Direct
reads Access

Virtual
InfoCube

This solution provides for really fast queries, but delta logic has to be custom 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 is a good option if

you have a low volume of
new records and a high
number of queries or
operational 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
Real-Time Data
Acquisition HybridProvider

Transaction
RDA
Data
Real-Time
Indexing
Data
ECC
Acquisition
and
External Query
Systems
(real time)
BWA based
InfoCube
Direct
Direct
reads Access

Virtual
InfoCube

NOTE: Virtual cubes with many users may place high-stress on the ERP system
What We’ll 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. 19
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 7.3 initial load runtime option “Insert only” and the ““Unique
data records only” prevents all look-ups during activation
20
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 you use delta loads, the first time BW 7.3 automatically
defines it an “init load” after that it automatically switches to
“delta” as the InfoPackage mode (no need to define it anymore!)
21
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:

 DataFlow Copy to copy data

flows and process chains.
 DataFlow Migration to migrate, or
reverse migrate, data flows with
automatic adoption of
InfoPackages and process chains
Source: SAP AG, 2011

NEW: use “RS_SYSTEM_SHUTDOWN” to restart an application server and

suspend RDA and process chains and re-start them in a controlled manner.
Data loads are not in “flux’ and you do not have to clean up partial loads.
22
The New DataFlow Generation Wizard
In SAP BW 7.3, we have a new step-by-step wizard
that allows you to generate data flows from flat files or
existing data sources.

A great benefit is that the

wizard also work against
any InfoProvider.
I.e. you can use the wizards
to create loads from DSOs
to DSOs or InfoCubes

This wizard reduce the number or manual steps needed to load data. It also
simplifies the development process and makes ETL work much easier. 23
Layered Scalable Architecture (LSA) – New Templates

The LSA consists logically of:

 Acquisition layer
 Harminization/ quality layer
 Propogation layer
 Business transformation layer
 Reporting layer
 Virtualization layer

SAP BW 7.3 SP-3 has a set of 10

templates to help build a layered
data architecture for large-scale
data warehousing

Source: sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/24800
24
What We’ll 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

25
 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)
26
 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.
SAP BW 3.5 and BW BW 7.0 and 7.3 with
7.0 without security security conversion
Authorizations are building conversion
Technical Authorization Objects Analysis authorizations
blocks of the 7.0/7.3 Foundation
reporting concept and Maintenance Not changeable Changeable
Number of 10 fields at 10 characters Unlimited
security contains both the
InfoObjects
data value and hierarchy Navigational On global basis Individually
restrictions. attributes
Hierarchy Via GUID 0TCTAUTHH Equivalent to value
authorization authorizations
Security can be built using Composition of Only intersection of Union ('as expected')
authorization objects are
“RSECADMIN” transaction Authorizations
permitted
Authorization Per InfoCube and Per InfoObject only
Relevance InfoObject 27
 BW 7.0 and 7.3 Authorization Objects
Authorization objects for the Data Warehousing Workbench:
S_RS_DS: For the DataSource or its sub objects (BI 7.x) After the required
S_RS_ISNEW: For new InfoSources or their sub objects (NW BI 7.x) security conversion you
S_RS_DTP: For the data transfer process and its sub objects have access to lower
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 28
What We’ll 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

29
 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 BW 7.3 CompositeProviders, DSOs, MultiProviders & InfoCubes are available

as InfoProviders for querying. Even queries can be defined as InfoProviders.
30
 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 3. Queries are routed to BWA
by the Analytical engine
containers' from APD that is
SAP BW
stored in BWA. You can build
queries on them BI Analytical Engine

2. Indexes copied in
to RAM on blades
Using the Index Designer in
InfoCubes
BOBJ Data Services, you can
1. Indexing and
also index data from external compression
stored on a file
data files and data bases and system
query it in SAP Business DSOs

Warehouse 7.3. Business Object

Data Services
External data
Index Designer

It is important to note that Data

Files
Integrator
currently, the BO indexes are
on dedicated HW blades. Databases
31
 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 following calculations is included in BW 7.3 / BWA 7.2
SUM MIN MAX CNT (count all detailed values)
CN0 (Count all values not zero or null) AVG (average)
AV0 (Average for all values not zero or 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) Virtual key figures

2) Conversion before aggregation
3) Formula calculation before aggregation
4) Non-cumulative key figures
5) 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

The current plan is that by the fourth quarter 2011. BW 7.3 SP-5 will be able to run completely
on the HANA database (in-memory processing database instead of traditional RDBMSs)
What We’ll 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

35
 Some Upgrade Options and Java Stack Recommendations
NW Java 7.3 is now included, Option 1

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 Recommended

ABAP 7.30.
Option 2

This gives better scalability

(multiple hardware servers).
Double stack upgrade is still
possible.
Recommended
The java server is not used for
IP after BW 7.30 (re-developed in Option 3
ABAP HTTP)

You can automatically create

connections between Java-ABAP
for EP/IP or front-end Java using
CTC (notes: 983156, 1178800)
 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 companies should use the standard upgrade method,

unless their system is very small or have limited resources. For
those, the shadow system is created during the downtime.
37
 System Switch Upgrade and Shadow Systems
Application Data

You can use a shadow Target Release

SAP BW
system to reduce the 7.3 XPRA Import &
Data Conversion
system outage. Target Release
System

Also, by doing a hardware

switch/ upgrade, we can Application Data

minimize any impact to Source Target

Release Release
the production system Shadow
System
(reduced upgrade risk).
Source Release Target Release
System System
SPDD
- High system resource - locks
system in the REPACHK2 phase Shadow System Installation

- Standard system resource - locks Application

system in the REPACHK2 phase Data Target
Release
- Low system resource - locks BW 7.0
system in the LOCKEU_PRE phase EhP1
(note: 851449) BW 7.0
38
 Upgrade Resources

Team Lead

Basis Technical reviewer Upgrade Support Regression Testers

resource BW Developer External

• 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.

39
 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 to also select the new BI

content package as part of your upgrade.
40
 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 has a great

step-by-step 'wizard'
tool to help with the
7.3 upgrade.
41
 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 the Upgrade is a significant task and it is important to start

in an organized manner. ALWAYS; read the SAP notes for your
database, OS and NW release prior to starting these activities.
42
 ASU Provide a list of pre- and post upgrade tasks
Some of the manual preparation steps Some of the manual follow-up steps

There is also support for documentation of each task. Team

members can consolidate their comments, test results and
outcomes. This reduce the number of emails and everyone
can see what has been done and see results in one place. 43
 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 are some different files required for each type of database,
operating system and stacks. Make sure you collect the right versions.
44
 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 may consider doing this in the evening

after everyone has gone home.
45
 Step -5: The Lock down and Preprocessing

While, technically you have not yet locked The real lock-down of the BW system
the system, configuration changes to takes place when the pre-processing step
process chains, info packages & queries is complete. After this the system is
are no longer possible after this step unavailable for users.

There are many steps between these options. The best timing may be
to complete all tasks from step 1 through 5 before Friday's 5pm when
you may be able to bring the system down. Make sure you do a
system backup before you proceed to step 6!
46
 Step -1: Hardware Install, Dev Copy & Sandbox upgrade
BW 7.0 BW 7.0 BW 7.0 BW 7.0
In this example, we are installing new Sandbox Dev. Box QA Box Prod Box
Hardware. This creates a lot of
flexibility and less project risk! 1

First, we copy the BW 7.0 development

box to the new hardware. 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: this is also a test run for upgrading the

development box (!), thereby reducing the upgrade risk. After
the upgrade we also get a refreshed sandbox environment.
47
47
 Step -2: Development box copy and upgrade
BW 7.0 BW 7.0 BW 7.0 BW 7.0
Now we have to freeze all development Sandbox Dev. Box QA Box Prod Box
activities.
1
Normally the work in the 7.0 dev box 2
ids transported to QA for testing and
the dev box is locked. BW 7.3 BW 7.3
Sandbox 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: the outage of the development box occurred after the sandbox
upgrade and the development outage is minimized. This is also the second time
we have upgraded the development box, so any issues should be well known.
48
48
 Step -3: Production box copy and QA upgrade
BW 7.0 BW 7.0 BW 7.0 BW 7.0
We copy production environment to Sandbox Dev. Box QA Box Prod Box
the development box after all testing in
the QA has been completed and all the 2
1 3
object has been transported to the
production system.
BW 7.3 BW 7.3 BW 7.3
Sandbox Dev. Box 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: This approach turns the QA upgrade into a real 'dress rehearsal' for
the production box upgrade. Also, since we are switching the hardware, the risk
to the upgrade in minimal (BW 7.0 prod is not taken off-line until after the
49
49
upgrade).
 Step -4: Production box copy and QA upgrade
BW 7.0 BW 7.0 BW 7.0 BW 7.0
You now are ready for the cutover Sandbox Dev. Box QA Box Prod Box
weekend.
2 3
The best timing is to start the 1 4
production box on Thursday evening
after the BW system has completed
BW 7.3 BW 7.3 BW 7.3 BW 7.3
data loads. A full backup is taken. Sandbox Dev. Box QA Box 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 for having basis and technical people working the night from Thursday to
Friday and possibly to Saturday, depending how long the upgrade takes.
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 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.

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 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

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 Resources
• SAP NW 7.3 on Sap Developer Network
 www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/nw-73

• LSA Templates and Architecture in BW 7.3

 http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/24800

• Features list for the SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3

 www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/edw?rid=/library/uuid/304444f7-e02d-
2d10-9c97-d5e3ecf09882

• SAP NW 7.3 Business Content

 http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw73/helpdata/en/ca/6fbd35746dbd2d
e10000009b38f889/frameset.htm

• Roadmap - SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3

 http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/bw-73?rid=/library/uuid/300347b5-
9bcf-2d10-efa9-8cc8d89ee72c

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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
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Your Turn!

How to contact me:

Dr. Berg
Bberg@Comerit.com
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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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