Explore the production preparation phase

  • 8 minutes

In this phase, you should leverage all the knowledge and experience you accumulated in the prior phases and apply them in preparation for the production deployments. In addition, in migration scenarios, you should prepare for data transfer between your current hosting location and Azure.

  1. Work through necessary SAP release upgrades of your production systems before moving into Azure.

  2. Agree with the business owners on the functional and business tests that need to be conducted after the migration of the production system. Make sure that all these tests are executed with the source systems in the current hosting location. You want to avoid tests being conducted for the first time once the system is moved into Azure.

  3. Test production migration process into Azure. In cases where you are not moving all production systems to Azure within the same timeframe, identify groups of production systems that need to reside in the same hosting location. Test data migration. Common migration methods include:

    • Using DBMS methods like backup/restore in combination with SQL Server Always On, HANA System Replication, or Log shipping to seed and synchronize database content into Azure.
    • Use Backup/restore for smaller databases.
    • Use SAP Migration Monitor implemented into SAP SWPM tool to perform heterogeneous migrations.
    • Use the SAP DMO process (described at Database Migration Option (DMO) of SUM – Introduction) if you need to combine with an SAP release upgrade. Keep in mind that not all combinations between source and target DBMS are supported. More information can be found in the DMO release-specific SAP Notes. For example, Database Migration Option (DMO) of SUM 2.0 SP04 is documented in SAP Note #3126581.
    • Compare throughput of data transfer via Internet and ExpressRoute in case you need to upload backups or SAP export files to Azure. To facilitate Internet-based transfers, you might need to adjust NSG/ASG configuration.

  4. Before moving systems from the old platform into Azure, collect resource consumption data, such as CPU usage, storage throughput, and IOPS data. This is particularly important regarding the DBMS layer units but is also very helpful in the case of the application layer units. In addition, you should measure network and storage latency.

  5. Reference SAP support notes, SAP HANA hardware directory, and SAP Product Availability Matrix (PAM) to ensure accuracy of the information regarding supported Azure VM SKUs, supported OS releases for these Azure VM SKUs, and supported SAP and DBMS releases.

  6. Adapt your deployment scripts to leverage new Azure VM SKUs types and incorporate new features from which you can benefit.

  7. After deployment of infrastructure and application, step through the additional checks to validate the following:

    • The deployment provisioned the appropriate Azure VM SKUs with the intended storage configuration.

    • Guest operating systems of Azure VMs have been hardened in the intended and uniform manner.

    • Guest operating systems of Azure VMs are at the intended version and patch level.

    • The intended application releases and patches have been installed.

    • Guest operating systems of Azure VMs are at the intended version and patch level.

    • Azure Premium Storage has been used for the latency-sensitive disks or where the single VM availability SLA of 99.9% is required.

    • Guest operating systems of Azure VMs are at the intended version and patch level.

    • Whenever applicable, Azure Write Accelerator has been enabled.

    • Guest operating systems of Azure VMs are at the intended version and patch level.

    • Make sure that within the VM, storage spaces, or stripe sets have been created across disks that need Azure Write Accelerator support. For relevant information regarding Linux volume managers, refer to:

    • Azure VMs have been configured exclusively with managed disks.

    • Whenever applicable, Azure VMs have been deployed into the intended Availability Sets and Availability Zones.

    • Azure Accelerated Networking has been enabled on the Azure VMs used on the SAP application layer and the SAP DBMS layer.

    • There are no Azure Network Virtual Appliances in the communication path between the SAP application and the DBMS layer of an SAP NetWeaver, Hybris, or S/4HANA based SAP systems.

    • ASG and NSG rules control the connectivity in the intended manner.

    • Timeout settings identified in the pilot phase have been implemented.

    • Network latency between SAP application layer VM and DBMS layer complies with the guidelines provided in SAP Note #500235 and SAP Note #1100926. When deploying SAP HANA on Azure (Large Instances), take into account the exceptions documented in SAP HANA (Large Instances) network architecture.

    • Encryption has been implemented in the intended manner.

    • Interfaces and applications are available in the newly deployed infrastructure.

  8. Create a playbook that facilitates Azure planned maintenance events. The playbook should define the order in which the systems and Azure VMs should be taken offline and brought back online in case of planned maintenance.