In today's business, SAP systems are the backbone of many corporate processes, but their complexity can make their operation and maintenance a challenging task. A highly available and uninterrupted environment is essential for the smooth flow of business processes. That's why we're excited to introduce you to the AWS Launch Wizard - a tool designed for the automated deployment and management of SAP systems on AWS. In this article, we'll explain how the Launch Wizard can help you efficiently set up SAP systems as high availability clusters and reduce the effort involved.
What is the AWS Launch Wizard?
The AWS Launch Wizard for SAP is a service that guides you through the process of sizing, configuring, and deploying SAP applications on AWS, following AWS best practices.
The Launch Wizard shortens the time it takes to implement SAP applications on AWS. You enter your requirements for the application, including database settings (SAP HANA or SAP ASE), SAP landscape configurations, and deployment details through the service's wizard. The Launch Wizard then determines the right AWS resources to run your SAP application. It provides a cost estimate for the deployment, which you can adjust to see the updated costs immediately. Once you've finalized your settings, the Launch Wizard provisions and configures the selected resources and optionally installs the SAP application/database software with customer-provided software.
Deployments can be created through the Launch Wizard console or the AWS Launch Wizard APIs. For more information, see "Getting Started with the AWS Launch Wizard for SAP.
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After deploying an SAP application, you can access it through the AWS console and manage your SAP applications with AWS Systems Manager.
Supported Deployments with AWS Launch Wizard
The AWS Launch Wizard currently supports the deployment of AWS resources for the following SAP systems and configurations. The SAP HANA database software and the supported SAP application software are optionally installed and must be provided by the customer.
- SAP HANA database on a single EC2 instance: Deployment of SAP HANA in a single-node, scale-up architecture with up to 24 TB of storage.
- SAP NetWeaver on HANA system on a single EC2 instance: Deployment of an SAP application on the same EC2 instance as your SAP HANA database.
- SAP NetWeaver on ASE database on a single EC2 instance: Deployment of an SAP application on the same EC2 instance as your SAP ASE database.
- SAP HANA database on multiple EC2 instances: Deployment of SAP HANA in a multi-node, scale-out architecture.
- SAP NetWeaver system on multiple EC2 instances: Deployment of a SAP NetWeaver system with a distributed deployment model that includes an ASCS/PAS server, one/single SAP HANA server with SAP HANA databases, and multiple application servers.
- Cross-AZ SAP HANA database high availability setup: Deployment of SAP HANA with high availability configuration across two availability zones.
- Cross-AZ SAP NetWeaver system setup: Deployment of EC2 instances for ASCS/ERS and SAP HANA databases across two availability zones as well as distribution of the application server deployment across these.
- SUSE/RHEL cluster setup: For high availability deployments of SAP HANA and NetWeaver on HANA, the AWS Launch Wizard for SAP configures clustering with SUSE/RHEL when you deploy SAP software and specify the deployment of SAP database or application software. For SAP HANA databases, clustering is enabled between the ASCS and ERS nodes.
SAP High Availability Cluster with AWS Launch Wizard
Requirements:
A VPC with at least two private subnets and internet access via NAT gateway or proxy is required for the deployment of the system. An S-User is also required for downloading the SAP HANA software. This is then made available on an S3 bucket.
Description of the High Availability Cluster:
For a highly available SAP system, six EC2 instances are required: Two SAP HANA databases, distributed across two AZs, with system replication (HSR) between the primary and secondary databases. In addition, two application servers for user input are required, which should be distributed across AZs to minimize the risk of outages. Lock entries generated by user changes to the database are managed on an Enqueue Server (ASCS) and replicated to the ERS. In the event of an ASCS failure, the ERS takes over. The component connection is made via special overlay IPs, which are automatically redirected to the standby instance in the event of a failure by the cluster software.
Regular Testing and Monitoring of the High Availability Cluster
To ensure that your high availability cluster is functioning properly, it is important to regularly test and monitor it. This will help you to identify and address any potential issues before they cause a disruption to your SAP workload.
You should define a comprehensive set of tests to simulate the critical failure scenarios that would impact your SAP workload. These tests should be conducted regularly, and you should evaluate any changes to your architecture, software, or support staff to determine if additional tests are necessary.
Some example failure scenarios include:
Scheduled / controlled maintenance
Moderate risk:
- Resources exhausted or compromised (high CPU utilization / file system full / no more memory / memory problems)
- Failure of distributed, stateless components (e.g. web dispatcher)
- Failure of distributed, stateful components (e.g. application server)
- Single Point of Failure (database / SAP Central Services)
Minor Risk:
- AZ / network failure
- Failure of central services (DNS / Amazon EFS / API calls)
- Damage / accidental deletion / malicious activity / incorrect code deployment
- Regional breakdown
AWS Service Fault Injection Simulation
The AWS Fault Injection Simulation service is specifically designed to artificially replicate disruptions and failures within your AWS resources. With this service, you can simulate the failure of an EC2 instance, the stoppage and failure of a disk, and network interruptions in a realistic way. These simulation capabilities are essential to understand the impact of potential disruptions on your systems and to plan mitigations. In addition, the AWS Resilience Hub provides you with a platform to review, assess, and continuously monitor the resilience of your applications on AWS, so you can proactively ensure the robustness of your cloud infrastructure.
Next Steps for Your SAP on AWS Cloud Migration
We hope that this article has given you valuable insights into the world of SAP system high availability on AWS with the help of the Launch Wizard. If you have any further questions or need assistance with planning and implementing your SAP high availability clusters on AWS, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our team of experts is happy to help you ensure that your migration to the AWS cloud is as seamless and successful as possible. Discover our software solution ALPACA. For companies that run their SAP systems on AWS and are looking for solutions that go beyond the basic functions of the hyperscaler, our automation platform ALPACA offers an innovative and powerful alternative. ALPACA is specifically designed to improve the high availability, efficiency and management of SAP systems through seamless integration and optimization. ALPACA works independently of the underlying infrastructure and takes SAP Basis operation to the next level with its range of functions. Let us work together to ensure the resilience and performance of your mission-critical SAP systems.
Author: Patrick Zink