Avamar for SAP - EMC Community Network

EMC Backup and Recovery for SAP 

Enabled by EMC NetWorker Module for SAP 

with EMC Avamar 

A Detailed Review 

EMC Information Infrastructure Solutions 

Abstract 

This white paper describes how the backup and restore operation of SAP systems benefit from client-based 

deduplication technology using EMC ® Avamar ® . The white paper also addresses how customers can use the EMC 

NetWorker ® PowerSnap module to reduce the performance impact on the SAP production server during backup. 

July 2010

Copyright © 2010 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. 

EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to 

change without notice. 

THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” EMC CORPORATION MAKES NO 

REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS 

PUBLICATION, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR 

FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. 

Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable software 

license. 

For the most up-to-date listing of EMC product names, see EMC Corporation Trademarks on EMC.com 

All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. 

Part number: H7052 


Enabled by EMC NetWorker Module for SAP with EMC Avamar—A Detailed Review 

2

Table of Contents 

Executive summary ........................................................................................................................... 5 

Business case ............................................................................................................................... 5 

Product solution............................................................................................................................. 5 

Key results ..................................................................................................................................... 5 

Introduction........................................................................................................................................ 6 

Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 6 

Purpose ......................................................................................................................................... 6 

Scope ............................................................................................................................................ 6 

Audience ....................................................................................................................................... 6 

Terminology ................................................................................................................................... 6 

Key components ............................................................................................................................... 8 

Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 8 

EMC Symmetrix VMAX ................................................................................................................. 8 

EMC Avamar ................................................................................................................................. 8 

EMC NetWorker PowerSnap Module for Symmetrix .................................................................... 8 

EMC NetWorker Module for SAP with Oracle ............................................................................... 8 

VMware vSphere ........................................................................................................................... 9 

IDES SAP ERP ............................................................................................................................. 9 

Data Protection Advisor ................................................................................................................ 9 

Physical architecture ....................................................................................................................... 10 

Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 10 

Physical environment .................................................................................................................. 10 

Hardware resources .................................................................................................................... 11 

Software resources ..................................................................................................................... 11 

Configuration and design ................................................................................................................ 12 

Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 12 

Key considerations ...................................................................................................................... 12 

LUN design .................................................................................................................................. 13 

SAP application server configuration .......................................................................................... 14 

PowerSnap specific configuration ............................................................................................... 15 

Data load configuration ............................................................................................................... 16 

Testing and validation ..................................................................................................................... 17 

Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 17 

Scenarios overview ..................................................................................................................... 17 

Test group 1: Baseline with BCT off............................................................................................ 18 

Test group 2: Avamar on with BCT off ........................................................................................ 18 

Test group 3: Baseline with BCT on............................................................................................ 20 

Test group 4: Avamar on with BCT on ........................................................................................ 21 

Results validation ........................................................................................................................ 22 



3

Avamar compared to baseline .................................................................................................... 22 

Avamar compared to BCT ........................................................................................................... 24 

Conclusion....................................................................................................................................... 28 

Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 28 

Client-based deduplication by Avamar........................................................................................ 28 

Avamar and Oracle BCT ............................................................................................................. 28 

Automation of snapshot-based backup using PowerSnap ......................................................... 28 

Centralized management with NetWorker integration ................................................................ 28 

References ...................................................................................................................................... 29 

White papers ............................................................................................................................... 29 

Product documentation ............................................................................................................... 29 

Other documentation ................................................................................................................... 29 

Additional information ...................................................................................................................... 30 

Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 30 

Baseline - BR*Tools configuration file for RMAN ........................................................................ 30 

Baseline - BR*Tools configuration file for PowerSnap ................................................................ 31 

Baseline - NMSAP configuration file for RMAN .......................................................................... 32 

Baseline - NMSAP configuration file for PowerSnap .................................................................. 33 

Avamar - BR*Tools configuration file for RMAN ......................................................................... 33 

Avamar - BR*Tools configuration file for PowerSnap ................................................................. 35 

Avamar - NMSAP configuration file for RMAN ............................................................................ 36 

Avamar - NMSAP configuration file for PowerSnap .................................................................... 37 



4

Executive summary 

Business case 

SAP data growth can be as much as 60 percent per year. In many cases there are 

multiple SAP solutions with production and non-production data growing 

continuously. This situation is driving SAP customers to revisit their backup and 

recovery strategies as traditional backup systems are being pushed to capacity. 

The EMC Backup and Recovery for SAP – Enabled by NetWorker Module for SAP 

with Avamar solution is designed to enable SAP customers to achieve new levels of 

data reduction and provide fast, secure backup for their production and nonproduction 

SAP environments. In the process, SAP backup time and growth of 

secondary storage are reduced, along with decreased network utilization. In case of 

data corruption, users can recover the system in minimal time by using full backup. 

Product 

solution 

This solution demonstrates the benefits of client-based deduplication in an 

SAP/Oracle environment on the EMC ® Symmetrix ® platform as well as the benefits 

of integrating EMC PowerSnap and the EMC NetWorker ® Module for SAP with 

Oracle (NMSAP) using the EMC Avamar ® plug-in and NetWorker. 

The solution builds a replica of a common customer environment and validates the 

configuration for both performance and functionality of client-based deduplication 

enabled by Avamar. 

NetWorker is used as the backup management tool to perform the multi-stream 

backup to Avamar. Through interaction with the PowerSnap module, NetWorker 

controls the process of snapshot-based backup and eliminates the performance 

impact of the backup job on the production server being backed up. 

EMC Data Protection Advisor (DPA) collects relevant backup information. In this 

solution, we will show how you can use this analysis tool for data collection, data 

recording, and backup metrics management. 

Key results 

This white paper demonstrates the following benefits for the solution: 

• Avamar reduces the network utilization of the backup jobs by 57 percent while 

achieving a deduplication ratio of 10:1. 

• NetWorker PowerSnap enables the client-based deduplication without additional 

CPU utilization on the production host. 

• Multi-streaming with NMSAP enabled by NetWorker allows the backup job to finish 

over two and a half times faster than if performed with a single stream. 

• Restoration from Avamar taking advantage of multi-streaming with NMSAP 

enabled by NetWorker is six times faster than Recovery Manager (RMAN) with 

BCT. 



5

Introduction 

Overview 

This white paper clarifies the benefits of client-based deduplication and mirror-based 

backups for SAP landscapes. It validates the feasibility of implementing a 

deduplication approach in a typical SAP environment. 

The reference architecture presented in this white paper will help you prepare a 

backup and recovery plan and topology for SAP systems. 

Purpose 

The purpose of the white paper is to: 

• Provide an understanding of client-based deduplication for backup of SAP systems 

• Supply an overview of the snapshot-based backup method and explain the reason 

for using this backup method 

• Demonstrate the integration capability of NetWorker Module for SAP with Oracle 

(NMSAP), PowerSnap, and Avamar with central control by NetWorker 

Scope 

This white paper documents the software and hardware resources involved in this 

solution as well as the corresponding configuration for building the test environment. 

The white paper also addresses the solution design, the test scenario pattern, and 

the conclusion based on test results and analysis. 

It is assumed the reader has knowledge and experience using BR*Tools for backup 

and recovery of SAP with Oracle databases. Detailed explanations of these concepts 

are not in the scope of this paper. 

Audience 

This white paper is intended for customers, partners, and EMC employees, including 

IT planners, SAP architects, Basis administrators, and any other people involved in 

evaluating, acquiring, managing, operating, or designing an SAP landscape 

infrastructure. 

Terminology 

This section defines terms used in this document. 

Term 

DEV 

QAS 

PRD 

RMAN 

BCT 

Definition 

SAP development system 

SAP quality assurance system, also referred to as test system 

SAP production system 

Recovery Manager, an Oracle built-in tool for backup and 

restore, which performs backup at the database level 

Block Change Tracking, an Oracle feature that reduces backup 

times on incremental backups by tracking changed blocks since 



6

the last backup on a dedicated file 

BR*Tools 

Proxy Host 

BACKINT 

Baseline 

backup 

LSMW 

PIT recovery 

Solution 

Enabler 

Toolset that the SAP for Oracle database administration (DBA) 

tasks provide 

Also known as Data Mover, the secondary host, from which 

PowerSnap implements snapshot-based backup 

The external backup library called by BR*Tools to perform SAP 

system backup at the file system level. It is SAP certified. 

Backup to SATA volumes without using the deduplication 

technology 

Legacy System Migration Workbench (LSMW), an SAP specific 

tool written in Advance Business Application Programming 

(ABAP) to load data into the system 

Point-in-time recovery 

EMC shared libraries for use by Solutions Enabler applications, 

and the Symmetrix Command Line Interface (SYMCLI) for use by 

storage administrators and systems engineers. 



7

Key components 

Introduction 

This section briefly describes the key solution components. For details on all of the 

components that make up the architecture, see the “Physical architecture” section in 

this paper. 

EMC 

Symmetrix 

VMAX 

EMC Symmetrix VMAX provides high-end storage for the virtual data center. 

Symmetrix VMAX scales up to 2 PB of usable protected capacity and consolidates 

more workloads with a much smaller footprint than alternative arrays. 

The innovative EMC Symmetrix Virtual Matrix Architecture of VMAX seamlessly 

scales performance, capacity, and connectivity on demand to meet all application 

requirements. Symmetrix VMAX can be deployed with Flash drives, and Fibre 

Channel and Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) drives, with tiering 

fully automated with FAST. It supports virtualized and physical servers, including 

open systems, mainframe, and IBM i hosts. 

EMC Avamar 

EMC Avamar backup and recovery solutions utilize patented global data 

deduplication technology to identify redundant data at the source, minimizing backup 

data before it is sent over the LAN/WAN. With Avamar, you can achieve new levels 

of data reduction and enable fast, secure backup for your VMware environments, 

remote offices, LAN/NAS servers, and desktop/laptop systems. In the process, you 

will reduce backup time, growth of secondary storage, and network utilization. 

Avamar deduplicated backups function like full backups and can be recovered in just 

one step. You do not need to restore full backups and subsequent incremental 

backups. In addition, Avamar verifies backup data recoverability, so there are no 

surprises, and encrypts data for secure electronic backups. 

EMC NetWorker 

PowerSnap 

Module for 

Symmetrix 

The PowerSnap Module enhances NetWorker by allowing snapshot-based data 

protection and availability during backups for the Symmetrix storage system. The 

backup is virtually instantaneous, regardless of the volume size. The PowerSnap 

Module software enables frequent backups with little impact on the network or 

application server, and provides backups of large databases or data stored in file 

systems. 

EMC NetWorker 

Module for SAP 

with Oracle 

EMC NetWorker Module for SAP with Oracle (NMSAP) ensures that the missioncritical 

data is available by delivering fast, online backup and recovery for SAP. With 

NMSAP, SAP administrators can centrally manage backup operations and 

schedules. 

Featuring data deduplication support through its embedded Avamar client, NMSAP 

reduces the impact of data protection operations on production servers and 

networks, and significantly reduces the amount of backup storage required. 



8

VMware 

vSphere 

VMware vSphere is the foundation for a dynamic, self-optimizing IT infrastructure. It 

is a robust, production-proven virtualization layer that abstracts processor, memory, 

storage, and networking resources into multiple virtual machines. VMware vSphere 

allows enterprises to dramatically reduce hardware and operating costs by sharing 

resources across a virtual environment. 

IDES SAP ERP SAP ERP IDES is the "Internet Demonstration and Evaluation System" in the R/3 

System, and represents a model company. It consists of an international group with 

subsidiaries in several countries. IDES contains application data for various business 

scenarios you can run in the SAP system. The business processes in the IDES 

system are designed to reflect real-life business requirements, and have access to 

many realistic characteristics. IDES uses easy-to-follow business scenarios to show 

you the comprehensive functions of the R/3 System. The focal point of IDES, 

however, is not the functionality itself, but the business processes and their 

integration. 

Data Protection 

Advisor 

Data Protection Advisor (DPA) is an advanced backup reporting and analysis 

application that gives its users complete visibility into everything happening within 

their backup environment. DPA gathers data from backup servers, backup clients, 

databases, network switches, SAN switches, and tape libraries. DPA correlates 

information from each of these areas and provides advanced reporting, 

troubleshooting, performance management, and capacity planning. 



9

Physical architecture 

Overview 

The following section identifies and briefly describes the technology and components 

used in the environment. 

Physical 

environment 

The following diagram illustrates the overall physical architecture of the environment: 

The SAP DEV and QAS systems, NetWorker server, and DPA server are all built on 

the virtual machine managed by the VMware ESX server. NetWorker controls the 

backup and restoration processes, and the DPA server captures the data results. 

The SAP PRD system and the proxy host reside on the physical machines, which 

are connected with the ESX server through a LAN for communication purposes 



10

etween NMSAP, PowerSnap and the NetWorker server. EMC Symmetrix VMAX is 

attached to all application servers through the SAN. In addition, the NetWorker 

defines Avamar as the deduplication node in device configuration. 

Hardware 

resources 

The hardware used to validate the solution is listed in the following table. 

Equipment Quantity Configuration 

EMC VMAX SE 1 52 x 300 GB 15k FC disks 

52 x 1 TB 7.2k SATA disks 

VMware ESX server 1 Dell PowerEdge R900 16 Core 

SAP host 4 • DEV: VMware Virtual Machine 2 CPUs, 8 GB RAM 

• QAS: VMware Virtual Machine 2 CPUs, 8 GB RAM 

• PRD: Dell PowerEdge 6850 16 Core 

• Proxy host: Dell PowerEdge R710 16 Core 

EMC NetWorker server 1 VMware Virtual Machine 2 CPUs, 8 GB RAM 

EMC DPA server 1 VMware Virtual Machine 2 CPUs, 8 GB RAM 

SAN switch 1 Cisco Catalyst 9509 

EMC Avamar Appliance 1 EMC Avamar Data Store Grid (six nodes) Gen2 

Software 

resources 

The software used to validate the solution is listed in the following table. 

Software 

Version 

Linux Red Hat Enterprise 

5.3 AS5 U2 64 bit 

Oracle Database 10.2.0.4 

SAP Application 

IDES ERP 6.0 EhP4 

EMC NetWorker 7.6 

EMC NetWorker Module for SAP with Oracle 4.0 

EMC NetWorker PowerSnap Module for 

Symmetrix DMX /VMAX 

2.5 

EMC Solutions Enabler 7.0.1.0 

VMware vSphere Server 4.0 Update 1 

EMC Avamar software 4.1 

EMC Data Protection Advisor 5.5 



11

Configuration and design 

Introduction 

This section provides the configuration information for this solution, including: 

• Disk allocation pattern 

• Relevant SAP system settings 

• Corresponding NetWorker components 

• Key considerations or prerequisites for the proposed test scenarios 

The SAP systems presented in this solution follow the principle of the standard 

three-system landscape known as DEV, QAS, and PRD. 

Key 

considerations 

EMC considered the following when performing the test scenarios in this solution: 

• An Advanced File Type Device is created on SATA disks on VMAX as the 

destination for baseline backup. 

• RMAN is configured as the default backup tool in BR*Tools for backing up 

database files to backup destination. The database control file, the BR*Tools 

profiles, and logs are still backed up through BACKINT. 

• BACKINT is specified as the default method for backing up all files with 

PowerSnap, including database data files, the control file, the BR*Tools profiles, 

and logs. 

• You do not need to install a separate Avamar client. Avamar works as a 

deduplication node in the NetWorker server and NetWorker manages all backup 

streams to Avamar. 

• By default, SAP performs a cumulative backup when running an incremental 

backup job. 

• Backup for archive logs is not configured for the development and testing systems. 

The production system is separately configured to run every two hours without 

connecting to Avamar or PowerSnap. 

A baseline backup is established to compare the results with that of the client-based 

deduplication backup. To facilitate database size changes, EMC used Legacy 

System Migration Workbench (LSMW) for data population to simulate a realtime data 

increase in the customer environment. In this solution, the comparison between 

baseline and deduplication backup is only conducted on the production system. EMC 

also used the development and testing systems in this solution to validate the 

feasibility of client-based deduplication on virtualized platforms. 

When doing backup in a traditional environment that demands optimized 

performance, you should perform an incremental backup with BCT to reduce the 

backup duration and network traffic. Therefore it is useful in this solution to measure 

the performance difference between BCT and Avamar. 

Taking the performance impact on the backup client into consideration, EMC 

developed a series of approaches for backing up a client through a mirrored volume. 

PowerSnap works together with NetWorker to interact with Solutions Enabler to 

accomplish this task. EMC recommends that you configure BACKINT as the default 

backup method for all files when integrating PowerSnap with NMSAP and 

NetWorker. 



12

LUN design 

The following table describes the storage design pattern for the SAP DEV and QAS 

systems built on virtual machines. 

RAID 

type 

Disk 

type 

LUN size Purpose Filesystem 

10 VMFS 64 GB Linux root and 

swap 

10 RDM 32 GB Original redo log /oracle//origlogA 

/oracle//origlogB 

10 RDM 32 GB Mirrored redo log /oracle//mirrlogA 

/oracle//mirrlogA 

5 RDM 64 GB Oracle archive log /oracle//oraarch 

/ 

5 RDM 64 GB x 

4 

5 RDM 64 GB x 

4 

5 RDM 64 GB x 

4 

5 RDM 64 GB x 

4 

Database data files 




/oracle//sapdata1 




5 RDM 32 GB SAP BIN /sapmnt/ 

/usr/sap/ 

/usr/sap/trans 

5 RDM 32 GB Oracle BIN /oracle/client 

/oracle/stage 

/oracle//102_64 

The following table describes the storage design pattern for the SAP PRD system 

built on physical machines. 

RAID type LUN size Purpose Filesystem 

10 64 GB Linux root and swap / 

10 32 GB Original redo log /oracle//origlogA 

/oracle//origlogB 

10 32 GB Mirrored redo log /oracle//mirrlogA 

/oracle//mirrlogA 

5 64 GB Oracle archive log /oracle//oraarch 

5 64 GB x 4 Database data files /oracle//sapdata1 



13




5 32 GB SAP BIN /sapmnt/ 

/usr/sap/ 

/usr/sap/trans 

5 32 GB Oracle BIN /oracle/client 

/oracle/stage 

/oracle//102_64 

SAP 

application 

server 

configuration 

The solution is validated with the following configuration specified to SAP systems, 

where PowerSnap is disabled. Configuration of PRD and the proxy host specific to 

PowerSnap is outlined separately. 

DEV 

Profile characteristic 

Database size 

Value 

271 GB 

Installed agent 

BR*Tools - Backup device type 

BR*Tools - Backup type 

BR*Tools - Backup mode 

NMSAP 

rman_util 

online_cons 

full 

QAS 


Database size 





Value 

270 GB 


rman_util 

online_cons 

full 

PRD 


Database size 


Value 

278 GB 

NMSAP, PowerSnap (valid in PowerSnap 

enabled backup) 



14




rman_util 

online_cons 

full 

Note The meanings of BR*Tools parameters are explained below. 

• rman_util 

RMAN backup in combination with a backup library and the backup tool of another 

manufacturer. BACKINT provides an interface to the external backup tool and is 

also used to back up profiles, log files, and the control file. 

• online_cons 

The backup is performed when the database is open. Both the database files and 

the offline redo log files generated during the backup are copied to the same 

volume. As a result, you have a logically consistent dataset available. 

• Full 

Full database backup at level 0. This backup can be part of an incremental backup 

strategy. 

For more information about the explanation of a BR*Tools configuration, refer to SAP 

online help. 

Refer to the “Additional information” section for more information about the 

configuration for the PRD system. 

PowerSnap 

specific 

configuration 

The following tables list the configuration characteristics of PRD and the proxy host 

using PowerSnap. 

PRD 


Database size 

Value 

278 GB 





NMSAP, PowerSnap 

util_file_online 

online_cons 

all_data 

Note The new value of BR*Tools parameter is explained below. 

• util_file_online 

Use external backup programs for file-by-file backup. Use this parameter value for 

an online backup, if it is supported by the external backup program. This 

dynamically sets and ends the backup status of the tablespaces to be saved and 

thus greatly reduces the volume of offline redo log files during the backup. 

• all_data 

Back up the files of all tablespaces except pure index tablespaces or empty 

tablespaces. 



15

Proxy host 



Synchronized volumes 

Snapshot type 

PowerSnap backup type 

Value 

PowerSnap 


BCV 

Immediate live backup (serverless snapshot 

backup) 

Note 

• This solution uses BCV emulation because PowerSnap requires this mode. You 

can define BCV as the value of the snapshot type for the proxy host configuration. 

In addition, you can use BCVs for local replication and mount them to the proxy 

host in this solution. 

• The database control file, the BR*Tools profile, and log files are always backed up 

directly from the production host. 

Immediate Live Backup refers to a process where BCVs are split and immediately 

backed up by the PowerSnap module to conventional storage. The BCVs are 

automatically synchronized with the source volumes. 

For more information about the backup/restore definition enabled by NMSAP with 

PowerSnap, refer to the EMC NetWorker Module for SAP with Oracle 4.0 

Administration Guide. 

Refer to the “Additional information” section for more information about the 

configuration for the PRD system. 

Data load 

configuration 

Data load simulates the data volume increase and changes generated by day-to-day 

business operations in the SAP systems. In order to get an acceptable and relatively 

stable result, we performed three data loads, as shown in each scenario. 

The load pattern is outlined in the table below. 


SAP module where the data is generated 

Object to be generated 

Value 

SD 

Sales order 

How many records generated each time 100,000 

Data volume increase in database by each 

load 

Approximately 2.7 GB (10% data 

increase of total database) 

Note 

Sales orders were generated randomly to avoid generating records that 

would artificially tend to deduplicate well. This random process retrieves data 

from over 20,000 possible customers and 10,000 possible items in the 

master data and combines them to generate random orders. 



16

Testing and validation 

Introduction 

This section provides detailed information on the test scenarios’ result validation. 

The test scenarios were grouped and carried out based on different combinations of 

key components’ functionality. The key components refer to client-based 

deduplication enabled by Avamar and Oracle incremental backup optimized by BCT. 

The following statements apply to all tested scenarios: 

• The backup stream is directed to the Advance File Type Device (baseline backup) 

when Avamar is disabled. 

• The backup stream is always directed to the Avamar deduplication node through 

NetWorker when Avamar is enabled. 

• A full backup is conducted with BCT disabled. 

• An incremental backup is conducted with BCT enabled. 

• All resulting data is captured by DPA. 

Unless otherwise specified, PowerSnap is disabled for the PRD system during 

backup. 

All SAP systems are copied using storage cloning for rapid refresh and consistency 

in the context of all test scenarios. 

Scenarios 

overview 

The test performed on the target system covers both backup and restore operations. 

Backup is divided into two stages: Stage 1 means an initial backup, and stage 2 

refers to the subsequent full/incremental backup upon completion of each data load. 

Data load applies to the production system in particular. 

EMC processed four groups of tests with different configurations of Avamar and BCT 

in order to meet the following objectives: 

• Measure the achieved deduplication ratio as well as any advantages brought by 

Avamar 

• Measure and compare the advantages and disadvantages of using Oracle BCT 

with Avamar for backups 

• Observe how PowerSnap improves the backup process for the production system 

• Compare the efficiency between multi-stream backups and single-stream backups 

• Validate Avamar support for virtualized SAP systems 

The following table summarizes the different scenarios that were tested in this 

solution. 

Factor 

Avamar off 

BCT off 

Backup stage 1 

(Initial) 

Backup stage 2 

(3 data loads) 

Restore 

DEV QAS PRD DEV QAS PRD DEV QAS PRD 

F F F N/A N/A N/A C C C 



17

Avamar on 

BCT off 

Avamar off 

BCT on 

Avamar on 

BCT on 

F F F* N/A N/A F/F/F* N/A N/A N/A 

N/A N/A F N/A N/A I/I/I N/A N/A N/A 

F F F N/A N/A I/I/I N/A N/A C P 

Note 

F=Full Backup, I=Incremental Backup, C=Complete Restore, P=PIT Restore. 

*Backup will be performed twice for PRD: one is conducted with RMAN; and 

the other is conducted with PowerSnap. 

Test group 1: 

Baseline with 

BCT off 

Procedure 

Step Action 

1 Performed one-time backup for DEV, QAS, and PRD. 

2 Wiped out the database of the above system and restored from the 

existing backup. 

Result 

SID Scenario CPU 

utilization 

(%) 

Network 

throughput 

(MB/s) 

Data 

transfer 

(GB 

Backup 

source 

size 

(GB) 

Duration 

(min) 

PRD Backup 4.37 78.55 218.76 215 47.53 

SID Scenario Restore target size (GB) Duration (min) 

PRD Restore 215 79.1 

Note 

The above results were captured directly from DPA. 

The baseline measurement recorded is used for comparison with the following test. 

Test group 2: 

Avamar on with 

BCT off 

Procedure 

Step Action 

1 Performed backup for DEV and QAS to Avamar. 

2 Performed backup for PRD, which contains two phases: 

a. Initial backup (full backup) 

b. Subsequent backup (full backup), each with data load with the 

predefined pattern 

The second phase was repeated three times to achieve a stable and 



18

easonable result. 

Switched the backup stream from multiple to single to see how it 

affected the backup speed. 

3 a. Switched backup method to BACKINT and enabled 

PowerSnap. 

b. Executed the same procedure as step 2. 

c. Wiped out the database and restore from the latest backup. 

Result 

The following tables show the key metrics regarding backup process for PRD. 

• Without PowerSnap 

Scenario 

CPU 

utilization 

(%) 


throughput 

(MB/s) 

Data 

transferred 

(GB) 

Backup 

source 

size 

(GB) 

Duration 

(min) 

Initial 25.13 33.62 77.46 215 39.32 

1st data load 26.78 12.38 24.25 218 33.43 

2nd data 

load 

27.82 11.06 20.88 222 32.22 

3rd data load 27.45 11.73 22.75 225 33.10 

Note 


Deduplication occurs when the SAP system has been initially backed up and has 

achieved a 64 percent deduplication rate (roughly, 3:1 ratio). When the data volume 

increases, the average deduplication ratio can rise up to 10:1. Compared to the 

baseline backup, the network utilization drops by 57 percent, and the CPU utilization 

increases by 21 percent. 

• Without PowerSnap – Single-stream mode 

CPU 

utilization 

(%) 


throughput 

(MB/s) 

Data 

transferred 

(GB) 

Backup 

source size 

(GB) 

Duration 

(min) 

10.33 5.21 26.21 228 85.87 

Note 


Working in single-stream mode does not fully utilize the network bandwidth and CPU 

recourses, resulting in longer backup duration over the multi-stream mode. The multistream 

backup finishes in less than half the time of the single-stream job. 



19

• With PowerSnap 

Scenario 

CPU 

utilization 

(%) on 

PRD 

CPU 

utilization 

(%) on 

proxy 

host 


throughput 

(MB/s) 

Data 

transfer 

(GB) 

Backup 

source 

size 

(GB) 

Duration 

(min) 

Initial 0.28 18.91 28.56 75.05 321 44.85 

1st data 

load 

2nd data 

load 

3rd data 

load 

0.19 23.55 1.15 2.03 321 30.15 

0.18 23.59 1.11 1.96 321 30.20 

0.25 24.63 1.23 2.17 321 30.13 


PRD Restore 321 49.57 

Note 


The deduplication ratio of initial backup in PowerSnap mode is around 4:1. It 

increases sharply to 100:1 on average, with each data load. 

In the context of the PowerSnap backup, the proxy host takes over the workload of 

both the CPU and the network from the production host. The CPU utilization on the 

PRD host stays under 1 percent throughout the backup job (as expected). 

Backup using an external library (BACKINT) takes full advantage of client-based 

deduplication by transferring data through file-system-level copy. The amount of 

transferred data is almost identical to the size data volume increases in the database 

along with data load. The backup source size remains the same as there is sufficient 

free space in the database to accommodate the appended data. 

The restoration with BACKINT in PowerSnap mode is 1.6 times faster than the 

baseline. 

Test group 3: 

Baseline with 

BCT on 

Procedure 

Step Action 

1 Performed initial backup for PRD with BCT turned on. 

2 Performed data load with the same pattern as step 2 in the previous 

group. The subsequent backup with each data load was run in the 

incremental mode. 

3 Repeated the above step three times. 



20

Result 

Scenario 

CPU 

utilization 

(%) 


throughput 

(MB/s) 

Data 

transfer 

(GB) 

Backup 

target 

size (GB) 

Duration 

(min) 

Initial 3.32 60.54 217.38 215 61.28 

1 st data load 0.41 36.32 4.75 4.16 2.23 

2 nd data load 1.19 43.05 7.95 7.4 3.15 

3 rd data load 1.97 44.27 10.82 10 4.17 

Note 


Data transferred is slightly greater than the backup source size, because data 

transmission over the network has overhead on the carrier in the TCP/IP layer. 

Incremental backup enhanced by BCT shows outstanding performance in terms of 

the backup length. BCT reduces the backup duration because it only backs up the 

changed data since the last backup. 

Test group 4: 

Avamar on with 

BCT on 

Procedure 

Step Action 

1 Performed backup for DEV and QAS to Avamar with BCT turned on. 

2 Performed initial backup for PRD to Avamar with BCT turned on. 

3 Performed data load with the same pattern as step 2 in the previous 

group. The subsequent backup with each data load was run in the 

incremental mode. 

4 Repeated the above step three times. 

5 Wiped out the PRD database and restored it from the most recent full 

backup plus incremental backup. 

6 Performed a PIT restoration based on the previous step to revert the SAP 

system to an earlier status. 

Result 

Scenario 

CPU 

utilization 

(%) 


throughput 

(MB/s) 

Data 

transfer 

(GB) 

Backup 

target size 

(GB) 

Duration 

(min) 

Initial 22.56 29.58 75.48 215 43.55 

1 st data load 11.95 10.16 1.68 4.19 2.82 

2 nd data load 16.08 16.78 3.17 7.41 3.22 



21

3 rd data load 16.43 19.78 4.75 10 4.1 

Note 


Incorporating Avamar with BCT results in a 3:1 deduplication ratio for the initial 

backup and 2:1 on average for the subsequent incremental backup. 

The backup source size is similar to the one as documented in group 3. The only 

difference is that Avamar deduplicates the data before transferring it, which reflects 

the actual increased size of the database. This test shows that using NMSAP with 

the Avamar plug-in in conjunction with Oracle BCT enables faster incremental 

backups (15 times faster than the Avamar-enhanced full backup) with a reduced 

network utilization and storage footprint. 


PRD Complete Restore 223 313.95 

PRD PIT Restore 215 300.27 

Note 


The table shows that the restoration with BCT from Avamar is far slower than the 

baseline. Therefore, this test scenario is not practical because it is too timeconsuming 

to recover the SAP production system. 

Results 

validation 

The following sections consolidate the test results and provide an in-depth analysis 

across test scenarios. 


compared to 

baseline 

The SAP system backup can benefit from Avamar in terms of reducing the backup 

storage footprint as well as improving performance. 

The following section compares the configuration of baseline backup with that of an 

Avamar backup (BACKINT with Avamar). 

Backup storage footprint 

The delta size between two full backups is relatively small compared to the database 

size. For backup cycles, the conventional backup storage consumption increases 

linearly. When Avamar is introduced, the backup storage consumption increases 

with the same proportion as that of the delta size between two full backups for SAP 

databases which decreases the backup storage footprint significantly. 

Thus, for very large (up to TB level) SAP databases, using Avamar as the backup 

destination facilitates the backup storage management with high deduplication. 



22

Performance 

As the graph below shows, the Avamar-enabled full backup completes in 20 percent 

less time while using 60 percent less bandwidth. The side effect is that Avamar 

consumes more CPU resources at runtime because Avamar always runs a 

comparison of the differences between the data yet to be backed up and the data 

that has already been backed up. 



23


compared to 

BCT 

Starting from Oracle 10g, Block Change Tracking (BCT) is provided to speed up 

database incremental backup. When BCT is active, Oracle uses the Block Change 

Tracking File (BCTF) book to list the data blocks that have been changed since the 

last RMAN level 0 backup. RMAN then uses the information from the BCTF in 

incremental backups to read and back up only those blocks that have been changed. 

For detailed information, refer to SAP Note 964619. 

The following comparison is between the configuration of BACKINT with Avamar, 

BCT without Avamar, and BCT with Avamar. 

Backup Storage Footprint 

The total data transferred to Avamar with initial and all three subsequent backups is 

around 81 GB, 66 percent less than the data conducted by incremental backup jobs 

using BCT only. When BCT works together with Avamar, it requires almost the same 

space as BACKINT with Avamar. 

Performance 

For initial backup (level 0) to the same SAP system, BCT without Avamar leads to 

higher network traffic and a longer backup duration over the pure Avamar-based 

backup, but requires less CPU resources. Incorporating BCT and Avamar brings 

similar results as BACKINT with Avamar. 



24

• Initial Full Backup 

Note 

The CPU utilization in the scenario of BACKINT backup with Avamar refers 

to the one that happens on the proxy host. 

• Subsequent Incremental Backup 

In subsequent incremental backup, BACKINT with Avamar saves much more 

network bandwidth, but BCT requires much less time to complete the backup. BCT 

with Avamar offers better performance than BCT only in terms of both average 

network bandwidth and CPU utilization. 



25

Note 

The CPU utilization in the scenario of BACKINT backup with Avamar refers 

to the one that happens on the proxy host. The charts presented above 

show the average measurement results of three data loads. 



26

As the following chart illustrates, Avamar with BACKINT restores the same SAP 

system 6.3 times faster than BCT from Avamar. 



27

Conclusion 

Introduction 

This section provides a comprehensive summary to the product benefits and 

limitations through comparison of the functions of the key components. 

Client-based 

deduplication 

by Avamar 

Avamar reduces the backup storage footprint significantly by eliminating duplicated 

data from the backup set. Avamar only transfers new or changed data, based on 

preselected settings, since the last backup. 

Conventional backup through Ethernet requires high network bandwidth to ensure a 

short backup window. It is ideal to have a dedicated subnet for the backup 

environment. When sharing network with other applications, both the backup job and 

the application efficiency will be affected. By using Avamar, administrators can 

minimize the utilized network bandwidth attributable to backup jobs and share the 

network with multiple applications instead. However, backup with Avamar causes 

higher CPU utilization on the client. 

Avamar and 

Oracle BCT 

Avamar offers optimized backup performance regarding network utilization and 

minimizes the backup storage space required for backup contents. However, Oracle 

BCT offers the ability to complete incremental backups in the least time. When BCT 

and Avamar are combined, customers can achieve not only data deduplication and 

average-level network bandwidth, but also a short backup window for incremental 

backup. However, the restoration time is not acceptable. 

Automation of 

snapshotbased 

backup 

using 

PowerSnap 

PowerSnap allows automation of the snapshot/mirror-based backup though 

NetWorker. In this solution, PowerSnap with the mirror-split mode performs backup 

to Avamar to eliminate the impact of CPU utilization on the production host when 

Avamar is introduced. Backing up SAP systems from the proxy client minimizes the 

performance impact on the SAP production server in terms of CPU, network, and 

disk I/O. 

Centralized 

management 

with NetWorker 

integration 

As a central-management backup solution, NetWorker offers seamless integration 

with SAP, Avamar, and PowerSnap. NMSAP in conjunction with NetWorker allows 

users to perform a backup to Avamar in the multi-stream mode, which is 2.6 times 

faster than in a single-stream mode. 



28

References 

White papers 

For additional information, see the white papers listed below. 

• Backing Up Large SAP Oracle Databases Using EMC Avamar and Oracle RMAN - 

A Detailed Review 

• Backup of SAP Oracle Databases in EMC Symmetrix Environments with EMC 

NetWorker PowerSnap - Applied Technology 

Product 

documentation 

For additional information, see the product documents listed below. 

• EMC NetWorker Release 7.6 Installation Guide 

• EMC NetWorker Release 7.6 Administration Guide 

• EMC NetWorker Module for SAP with Oracle Release 4.0 Installation Guide 

• EMC NetWorker Module for SAP with Oracle Release 4.0 Administration Guide 

• EMC NetWorker PowerSnap Module for Symmetrix DMX Version 2.5 Installation 

Guide 

• EMC NetWorker PowerSnap Module for Symmetrix DMX Version 2.5 

Administration Guide 

• EMC Avamar 4.1 Server Software Installation Manual 

• EMC Avamar Backup Clients 4.1 Installation Guide and Reference Manual 

• EMC Avamar 4.1 System Administration Manual 

• Master Guide for SAP ERP 6.0 

Other 

documentation 

For additional information, see the document listed below. 

• SAP Note 964619 - RMAN: Incremental backups with Block Change Tracking 



29

Additional information 

Introduction 

This section describes the sample scripts used in this white paper. 

Baseline - 

BR*Tools 

configuration 

file for RMAN 

initPRDrman.sap 

************************************************************************************************ 

backup_mode = full 

restore_mode = full 

backup_type = online_cons 

backup_dev_type = rman_util 

backup_root_dir = /oracle/PRD/sapbackup 

stage_root_dir = /oracle/PRD/sapbackup 

compress = no 

archive_function = save_delete 

archive_copy_dir = /oracle/PRD/sapbackup 

archive_stage_dir = /oracle/PRD/sapbackup 

saveset_members = 1 

rman_channels = 4 

rman_parms = "ENV=(NSR_DEBUG_LEVEL=9, NSR_SERVER=networker, 

NSR_CLIENT=sapprd, NSR_DATA_VOLUME_POOL=UC334PRDF, 

NSR_NWPATH=/usr/sbin/)" 

util_par_file = /oracle/PRD/102_64/dbs/initPRDrman.utl 

************************************************************************************************ 

initPRDrman.utl 

************************************************************************************************ 

NSR_NWPATH = /usr/sbin/ 

parallelism = 4 

ss_group_by_fs = TRUE 

expiration = 3 Months 

pool = UC334PRDF 

server = networker 



30

client = sapprd 

ssNameFormat = new 

NSR_SAVESET_RETENTION = 3 Months 

NSR_SAVESET_BROWSE = 3 Months 

************************************************************************************************ 

Baseline - 

BR*Tools 

configuration 

file for 

PowerSnap 

initPRD.sap 

************************************************************************************************ 




backup_dev_type = util_file_online 



compress = no 




util_par_file = /oracle/PRD/102_64/dbs/initPRD.utl 

************************************************************************************************ 

initPRD.utl 

************************************************************************************************ 





pool = UC334PRDF 






31



ps_backup_mode = TRUE 

ps_archive_mode = FALSE 

ps_restore_mode = TRUE 

ps_inquire_mode = TRUE 

ps_exclude_backup_bi_run_nums = 2 

ps_exclude_archive_bi_run_nums = 1;2 

ps_exclude_backup_paths = 

/oracle/PRD/102_64/dbs/*;/oracle/PRD/sapreorg/*;/oracle/PRD/sa 

pbackup/* 

ps_opaque_pfilename = /oracle/PRD/102_64/dbs/nsrsapps.cfg 

************************************************************************************************ 

nsrsapps.cfg 

************************************************************************************************ 

NSR_DATA_MOVER = sapprx 

SYMM_SNAP_REMOTE = FALSE 

SYMM_SNAP_TECH = BCV 

NSR_PS_DEBUG_LEVEL = 9 

SYMM_ON_DELETE = RETAIN_RESOURCE 

NSR_SNAP_TYPE = symm-dmx 

NSR_PS_SAVE_PARALLELISM = 4 

************************************************************************************************ 

Baseline - 


configuration 


nsrsapsvrman.cfg 

************************************************************************************************ 

BR_EXEC = brbackup -p initPRDrman.sap 

ORACLE_HOME = /oracle/PRD/102_64 

ORACLE_SID = PRD 



32

NLS_LANG = AMERICAN_AMERICA.US7ASCII 

SAPDATA_HOME = /oracle/PRD 

SAP_BIN = /sapmnt/PRD/exe 

LD_LIBRARY_PATH = /oracle/PRD/102_64/lib:/usr/lib/nsr:/usr/lib 

OS_USR_PASSWD=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

************************************************************************************************ 

Baseline - 


configuration 


PowerSnap 

nsrsapsv.cfg 

************************************************************************************************ 

BR_EXEC = brbackup -p initPRD.sap -d util_file_online -r 

/oracle/PRD/102_64/dbs/initPRD.utl -t online_cons -m all_data 

-k no -l E 








************************************************************************************************ 

Avamar - 

BR*Tools 

configuration 


initPRDrmanavt.sap 

************************************************************************************************ 




backup_dev_type = rman_util 




33


compress = no 




saveset_members = 1 

rman_channels = 4 

rman_send=( 

"'NSR_ENV=(NSR_DEDUP_BACKUP=TRUE, 

NSR_DEDUP_NODE=avamar01-u)'", 

"channel sbt_1 'NSR_ENV=(NSR_DEDUP_CACHE_TAG=prdavt_1)'", 



"channel sbt_4 'NSR_ENV=(NSR_DEDUP_CACHE_TAG=prdavt_4)'" 

) 

rman_parms = "ENV=(NSR_DEBUG_LEVEL=9, NSR_SERVER=networker, 

NSR_CLIENT=sapprd, NSR_DATA_VOLUME_POOL=UC334PRDFAVT, 

NSR_NWPATH=/usr/sbin/)" 

util_par_file = /oracle/PRD/102_64/dbs/initPRDrmanavt.utl 

************************************************************************************************ 

initPRDrmanavt.utl 

************************************************************************************************ 





pool = UC334PRDFAVT 





34




************************************************************************************************ 


BR*Tools 

configuration 


PowerSnap 

initPRD.sap 

************************************************************************************************ 




backup_dev_type = util_file_online 



compress = no 




util_par_file = /oracle/PRD/102_64/dbs/initPRD.utl 

************************************************************************************************ 

initPRDavt.utl 

************************************************************************************************ 





pool = UC334PRDFAVT 







35


ps_backup_mode = TRUE 

ps_archive_mode = FALSE 

ps_restore_mode = TRUE 

ps_inquire_mode = TRUE 

ps_exclude_backup_bi_run_nums = 2 

ps_exclude_archive_bi_run_nums = 1;2 

ps_exclude_backup_paths = 

/oracle/PRD/102_64/dbs/*;/oracle/PRD/sapreorg/*;/oracle/PRD/sa 

pbackup/* 

ps_opaque_pfilename = /oracle/PRD/102_64/dbs/nsrsapps.cfg 

************************************************************************************************ 

nsrsapps.cfg 

************************************************************************************************ 

NSR_DATA_MOVER = sapprx 

SYMM_SNAP_REMOTE = FALSE 

SYMM_SNAP_TECH = BCV 

NSR_PS_DEBUG_LEVEL = 9 

SYMM_ON_DELETE = RETAIN_RESOURCE 

NSR_SNAP_TYPE = symm-dmx 

NSR_PS_SAVE_PARALLELISM = 4 



configuration 


nsrsapsvrmanavt.cfg 

************************************************************************************************ 

BR_EXEC = brbackup -p initPRDrmanavt.sap 







36




************************************************************************************************ 



configuration 


PowerSnap 

nsrsapsvavt.cfg 

************************************************************************************************ 

BR_EXEC = brbackup -p initPRD.sap -d util_file_online -r 

/oracle/PRD/102_64/dbs/initPRDavt.utl -t online_cons -m 

all_data -k no -l E 








************************************************************************************************ 



37

Avamar for SAP - EMC Community Network

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?