NEC and F5 Networks Perform Joint Verification of SAP System Optimization Using Power-Saving Platform

15 June, 2009 - NEC Corporation (“NEC”; Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & Representative Director: Kaoru Yano) and F5 Networks Japan K.K. (“F5”; Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Country Manager: Tadao Nagasaki) conducted joint verification concerning optimization of an SAP system consisting of NEC’s power-saving server Express 5800/ECO CENTER, the consolidated operation and management software WebSAM, and F5’s application delivery controller BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (“BIG-IP LTM”).

The verification test results showed that the SAP system, supported by the power-saving platform provided by NEC and F5 Networks, cut power consumption by 62% and achieved significant operation efficiencies.

Subsequently, NEC and F5 will now be able to offer SAP system users a system for which complete optimization from the servers to the network has been verified.

Recently, ERP systems have been ballooning in size and operation has become increasingly complex due to diversification of business processes and linkages with other systems. Consequently, these factors have increased the systems’ power consumption and caused a greater workload for administrators.

In order to resolve these issues, verification testing was performed on an SAP system that executes business processes using the optimal number of servers according to the system load status.

System evaluation took place through the construction of SAP ERP application servers in NEC’s Express 5800/ECO CENTER, and load distribution of SAP system users’ access that was implemented with F5’s BIG-IP LTM. The load for each application server was monitored by NEC’s consolidated operation and management software WebSAM (Note 1) and server resources were allocated accordingly. Furthermore, the BIG-IP LTM was notified of configuration changes, and system load was equalized in accordance with each change, thereby enabling optimal system configuration for the execution of business processes.

The features demonstrated through this verification are as follows.

1. Achievement of a power-saving platform for the SAP system
This verification has shown that it is now possible to perform operations while minimizing the size of the system and it is no longer necessary to operate all servers continuously. This has been achieved by the use of NEC’s power-saving server Express 5800/ECO CENTER, the optimization of server resources through the consolidated operation and management software WebSAM, and the equalization of system load using BIG-IP LTM. Consequently, a 62% reduction was achieved in power consumption and CO2 emissions were also reduced compared to conventional rack-type servers operated at the configurations required for high load times. Further, it is also possible to share resources between systems for which peak load times differ, which enables optimization of the number of servers in the data center.

2. Simplified operation and elimination of operation mistakes by making configuration changes autonomous
Since system configuration changes in response to load status are made according to the policy established in WebSAM in advance, this allows operation in accordance with the system features. By incorporating response measures to server or application failures in the policy, total operation that covers server failure (hardware and software) as well as monitoring of the SAP system itself is possible. In this way, by formulating scenarios for system operations in advance, autonomous operations can be achieved and failures can be responded to rapidly. In addition, since manual tasks are dramatically reduced, operation mistakes can also be avoided.

NEC will publish the verification test results on its website at the end of June 2009 and will also present them at a seminar to be held at SAP Japan Co., Ltd.’s joint verification center, COIL Tokyo. Both NEC and F5 will continue to develop optimal SAP systems and offer solutions that contribute to energy efficiency and simplification of operations for businesses.

Comment by Garrett Ilg, CEO, SAP Japan Co., Ltd.
“SAP welcomes this new power-saving platform provided by NEC and F5. The companies’ solution has simultaneously achieved the seemingly conflicting goals of strong processing power and reduced energy consumption in the SAP ERP platform in heterogeneous environments. We are certain that these verification results will be welcomed by numerous SAP users in Japan. Additionally, we hope that these verification achievements at COIL Tokyo will enable the verification testing of even closer collaborative solutions in the future.”

*All company names and product names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies.

Note 1: The load applied to each application server in the virtual environment is monitored by the platform management software WebSAM SigmaSystemCenter, and the consolidated management software WebSAM MCOperation changes the configurations of servers in the resource pool in response to load increases and decreases according to the policy. Furthermore, the network management software WebSAM NetvisorPro V notifies the configuration changes to BIG-IP LTM, and by equalizing the load in response to the configurations at each time, it is possible to execute business processes at the optimal configurations according to load.

Press enquiries (Japan):
R. Hoshino, NEC Corporate Communications Department
Tel: +81-3-3798-6511
E-mail: r-hoshino@cb.jp.nec.com  

A. Motegi, PR officer
F5 Networks Japan K.K.
Tel: +81-3-5114-3230
E-mail：a.motegi@f5.com

Press enquiries (Asia):
Desiree Lim
Tel: +65 6379 2571
Email: desiree_lim@nec.com.sg  

Customer enquiries regarding this matter:
NEC IT Platform Marketing Division
E-mail: sapbd-all@itpf.jp.nec.com

F5 Networks Japan K.K.
F5 First Contact
Tel: +81-3-5114-3210
http://www.f5networks.co.jp/fc/