MAXDB - General FAQs

What is SAP's database strategy?

SAP believes in providing healthy alternate database choices for our customers. Also SAP believes in a strong partner ecosystem. So, SAP will continue its existing multi-vendor database strategy for running SAP applications. We continue to work very closely with our partners including IBM and Microsoft and Oracle to optimize SAP applications with their database products.

Additionally, SAP will continue to invest in its own database technology. We have done this for more than 10 years with MaxDB. Our investments have resulted in a very robust and reliable technology optimized to run every single SAP application. But most importantly MaxDB is designed with one specific goal in mind - Low TCO. We have thousands of MaxDB customer installations and we will continue to deliver innovations and lower TCO to these customers.

Also, we will continue to tightly integrate our database products into some of our applications. We will do this when doing so will reduce the TCO and speed up the delivery of new innovation for our customers. As you know liveCache, which is based on the same technology as MaxDB, has been part of our APO product and has been in production with thousands of installations including many fortune 100 customers. If you look at the latest Business By Design, we have tightly integrated MaxDB and our TREX columnar technology in it.

Will SAP be in the database business?

SAP has always sold MaxDB for SAP applications. Additionally there are many happy customers of MaxDB who use it under non-SAP applications. Also, as before users can continue to download a community edition of MaxDB from the SAP website with free community support.

With the aquisition of Sybase in 2010, SAP has added further database capabilities to its own stack to support its vision of mobile, in-memory and timeless software.
Press release: SAP and Sybase Combine Forces to Unwire the Enterprise

Does the Sybase deal have an impact on MaxDB?

No, please see a comment on genpop.net from board member Vishal Sikka here. Joining Sybase and SAP extends SAP's database technology reach.

What is real about SAP MaxDB and MySQL?

Our customers were able to buy MaxDB directly from SAP for running SAP applications. From October 2003 to August 2007 they were also able to buy the database from MySQL for running non-SAP applications. SAP owned MaxDB development and IP. SAP provided the development support for users of MaxDB under both SAP applications and non-SAP applications where as MySQL provided primary support for non-SAP applications.
What we have announced in September 2007 is that the Sales and support of MaxDB will revert back to SAP. SAP is using the MaxDB database to power the back-end of their new SAP Business ByDesign offering, so they wanted to have direct control over the direction and support of the product under one organization. Additionally, this allows MySQL AB to focus completely on selling/supporting its own flagship open source database.
Since 2008 SAP offers a support package exclusively for SAP customers for their non-SAP applications.

Does the ORACLE SUN deal impact SAP MaxDB?

Oracle's aquisistion of SUN does not impact SAP's activities with SAP MaxDB. Oracle has become owner of the MySQL database - not of SAP MaxDB. SAP MaxDB is owned by SAP since 1997 and was never sold. All intellectual properties are with SAP. Even in the period of cooperation with MySQL AB (2003-2007) no exchange of code took place and no external contributions to SAP MaxDB coding were made.

What is the relationship of SAP MaxDB and SAPDB and open source?

MaxDB versions 7.5 and 7.6.00 are available as an open source product for several years now. These continue to stay in open source. This is maintained and driven by an open source community. We are proud of past SAP contributions to open source and the continued contributions of the community to maintain it. But SAP is not making any more active contributions to it.

Over the last years, we have continued to evolve the SAP MaxDB technology and have made very significant investments and innovations in this technology. These innovations are not in open source. Thus the latest MaxDB product is not open source.

What are benefits of SAP MaxDB?

MaxDB stands as database for OLTP and OLAP usage that offers high reliability, availability, scalability based on a very comprehensive feature set. Easy administration and automatic space management - MaxDB needs no reorganization - makes scheduling of downtimes nearly obsolete. Thus MaxDB, beyond lowest license and maintenance fee, reduces TCO of each of its SAP installations. The system you are just working with right now also runs on MaxDB.

MaxDB today counts more than 6500 customers with around 15000 installations.

What are the license costs for SAP MaxDB?

If your SAP solution will run on MaxDB the current license fee is 5% of the SAP application value (SAV). If MaxDB technology is part of a bundled offering for instance like the NetWeaver Full Use License or as SAP liveCache technology as part of SAP Supply Chain Management it comes without additional license costs.

If you want to run MaxDB for your own or third-party applications you can use the downloads from the SDN download area that are bound to our community license.

Can one buy a license for using SAP MaxDB with non-SAP applications?

SAP customers may order a flat-fee license & support contract for SAP MaxDB use with non-sap applications through their sales reprensentative (adding an appendix to the existing contract). If you are not an SAP customer, MaxDB for non-SAP applications can be used bound to a community license free of charge. There are no further options to buy for using MaxDB with non-SAP applications.

How does the support for SAP MaxDB work?

MaxDB in all its flavors as database and persistency technology within SAP is completely integrated into the SAP support infrastructure from system monitoring through to message solving support. This means a 24x7 coverage through SAP according to the SLA.

How to get support if SAP MaxDB is used with non-SAP applications?

If MaxDB is used together with non-SAP application, the path to get help is to use the MaxDB Forum of the SAP Community Network. Users help each other and our MaxDB staff monitors and assists on a voluntary basis. Additionally, SAP customers may order a flat-fee license & support contract for SAP MaxDB through their sales reprensentative.

How to find SAP MaxDB documentation for a given SAP release?

MaxDB documentation is updated per database version and not per SAP release. The quick way to access the most recent documentation (MaxDB 7.7) is just clicking here.

The documentation published in SAP Help Portal is provided per SAP release and contains the MaxDB documentation corresponding to the minor database version delivered together with this SAP release, thus is at some time outdated. For detailed information on how to locate MaxDB documentation in SAP Help Portal, see Note 767598.

The link in SDN always provides the latest version of the MaxDB documentation corresponding to the latest software version published in SDN. In general, this is a version not yet included in an SAP product and therefore not yet delivered to customers.

How to find courses available on SAP MaxDB and liveCache topics?

First, you may look to our repository maxdb.sap.com. There you find documentation and online training materials on administration and MaxDB internals. Both topics are covered with commented slidesets.

If you are looking for classroom training, please have a look to our university offerings. The following standards are available:

ADM515, Database Administration MaxDB
TEWA60, SAP APO LiveCache Monitoring
UMEW50, MaxDB Empowering Workshop Administration
UMEW60, MaxDB Empowering Workshop Performance Monitoring and Optimization
WB550, MaxDB Internals Workshop

Are there any books available on SAP MaxDB?

Yes. In September 2008 a new book on SAP MaxDB Administration was released (ISBN 978-3-89842-730-2). The English version was launched mid of 2009. For further questions you may contact Galileo Press .

How to download SAP MaxDB from the SAP Community Network?

We provide downloads for MaxDB in the 'Technologies' section of the SAP Communnity Network download area. You can use these downloads for free without any limitation in terms of number of users or database size. The downloads are bound to a community license. Please note that due to warranty aspects these downloads must not be used in conjunction with production SAP systems. Please refer to the SAP Service Marketplace to get the right version for your SAP system.

How does SAP liveCache technology relate to SAP MaxDB?

SAP liveCache technology is an object-based, memory-centric enhancement of MaxDB and was developed to manage complex object networks, e.g. in logistic solutions such as mysap SCM/APO. Large volumes of data must be permanently kept available in memory. liveCache provides data structures and processing methods to achieve highest performance goals. Using SAP liveCache technology APO processes run up to 600 times faster than with standard database logic.

Are there technical FAQs beside this overview FAQ?

Yes there are. Currently these are kept and maintained as Notes within the Service Market Place (SMP login required).

Are there feature descriptions for different SAP MaxDB versions and builds?

We maintain a set of notes that describe changes in MaxDB and liveCache in an aggregated form:

Featurelist for SAP DB 7.3.00(SMP login required)
Featurelist for liveCache 7.4.02(SMP login required)
Featurelist for liveCache/SAP DB 7.4.03\(SMP login required)
Featurelist for liveCache/MaxDB 7.5.00(SMP login required)
Featurelist for liveCache/MaxDB 7.6(SMP login required)
Featurelist for liveCache/MaxDB 7.7(SMP login required)
Featurelist for liveCache/MaxDB 7.8(SMP login required)
Featurelist for Database Manager GUI(SMP login required)

How does SAP MaxDB support UNICODE?

MaxDB currently supports UCS-2, comparable to UTF-16. The move to UTF-8 is planned, but it is a major change in kernel coding and data structures and would take much time. That is why we look for other alternatives like volume compression or effective columnar storing models to reduce the space requirements. For the time being starting with version 7.6.05 we can offer to use a logical character compression from UCS2 or ASCII to UTF-8 for non-key character columns ("UTF-8- Lite"). This allows compact storing of Unicode data. It has to be applied either with ALTER TABLE or by setting a parameter during Unicode Migration as written in respective notes.

The experiences with UNICODE migrations based on MaxDB (UCS-2) today show an increase in space requirements of around 30-40%. Depending on the amount of character data, the UTF-8-Lite approach offers the chance to reduce this total significantly.

Should SAP MaxDB be used on a 32-bit or a 64-bit platform?

On TechEd 2006 SAP has given a strong recommendation to all customers to switch to 64-bit platforms within 2 years. For MaxDB as database in SAP environments we recommend to switch even faster - especially if you run Netweaver04 based applications or newer. MaxDB largely profits from 64-bit architectures especially if large amounts of memory have to be allocated. You'll simply avoid resource problems. Additional information: See note 1013441(SMP login required)

Despite this, MaxDB of course can run with a very small footprint, far below today's standard pc equipment, for programs that do not afford much resources.

Is SAP MaxDB available for IBM z-Series?

The system z platform (zSeries) is positioned as a high availability, high-end platform; by IBM and by SAP. It is a precise bundle of hardware, the operating system z/OS and DB/2 for z/OS as database. These components are most optimally adjusted - targetting highest security and continious operation. Such a strong integration of components would not be feasible with varying components. Even not with zLinux. And customers even pay for this. There is no market for less integrated components at such high pricing. Thus SAP and IBM offer lower price options on other platforms, e.g. System p (AIX) or on Intel architecture (Linux or Windows).

Which external backup tools are supported for MaxDB?

· TSM (IBM/Tivoli)

· NetWorker (Legato)

· NetBackup (Veritas)

· Data Protector or Omniback (HP)

· all backup tools that support 'Backint for Oracle'

· all backup tools that support 'Backint for MaxDB'

Where can I find documentation about external backup tools supported for MaxDB?

The documententation for external backup tools can be found here.

SAP MaxDB - Defining Backup Templates

 

Before you can back up data and log entries to a data carrier, you have to define a backup template. In the properties of the backup template you specify the backup type and the type of data carrier that is to be used.

To speed up backups, you can carry them out to several data carriers in parallel. If choose to do so, you need to define a backup template for parallel backups. You can use third-party backup tools to back up and restore data and log entries

-> You have to logon the database as the database system administrator or as a DBM operator with server authorization for performing backups

Procedure

1. Select the database in the explorer tree.

2. In the context menu of the database, choose Administration.

3. Open the Backup tab page.

4. Expand Templates.

5. Choose New.... .

   To create a backup template for parallel backups, choose  New New Parallel Backup Template . Then proceed as with normal backup templates, except that you define several devices instead of one. For backups of the TAPE type, you can use up to 32 tape devices in parallel.

6. Enter the following data:

 

Backup Template Properties
Property	Description
Name	The name of the backup template has no influence on the name of the backup created later using this backup template.
Backup Type	Complete data backup Incremental data backup Log backup
Device Type	Data carrier type File Tape Pipe  Note For automatic log backups, you cannot use pipes.
Backup Tool	Only if you are using a third-party backup tool Specify the backup tool: BACK: Backint for Oracle or Backint for MaxDB NSR: Networker TSM: TSM
Device/File	Depending on the backup type enter the required information: Name of the tape device in the operating system Path and file name of the file in the file system  Caution : If you do not enter a full path here, the system stores your backup in the run directory of the database. Path and name of the pipe We recommend that you do not use the same data carrier for several databases. For log backups to files, the system adds a sequence number to the name of each new backup file. It assigns the numbers sequentially as long as the history of the log backups is not interrupted. If the log backup history is interrupted (for example after the database was initialized), the system starts numbering at 001 again. It also uses sequential numbers if you carry out multiple log backups for one database onto different data carriers, and thus to files with different file names.  Example LogUri.001 LogKai.002 LogOleg.003 LogUri.004 LogUri.005 End of the example. If automatic log backup is switched on, the system stores all backup files under the same file name using a sequence number.  Example DEMODB_MYLOG.001 DEMODB_MYLOG.002 DEMODB_MYLOG.003 DEMODB_MYLOG.004 DEMODB_MYLOG.005   You can also back up to data carriers on remote computers.
Size	There is no size restriction in default mode. The size of log backups to files is calculated as the size of a log segment (general database parameter AutoLogBackupSize) plus the space required by system information.
Compressed	For backup templates of the FILE and PIPE types only Specifies whether the backup is compressed
Overwrite	For backup templates of the FILE type only Specifies whether the backup file can be overwritten We recommend that you do not overwrite a backup with the backup that immediately follows it. Always keep an older version of the backup.
Block Size	Block size that the system uses to write backups to the data carrier.
Autoloader	Select this option if you want to use a tape device with an automatic tape loader.
OS Command	For backup templates fo the TAPE type only Operating system command for backing up to tape devices
Encryption	Prerequisites: license for SAP Cryptolib (only available in SAP systems), private-public key pair has been created using sapgenpse Algorithm Available encryption algorythms: DES, AES Owner Private key owner (see X.509 certificate)

To use a third-party backup tool, choose the following settings:

• Device Type: Pipe

• Backup Tool: Name of the backup tool

• Device/File: Operating system path of the pipe

 

More Information SAP MaxDB - Using Third-Party Backup Tools

 

 

Example of a Backup Template for a Complete Data Backup
Property	Value
Name of the backup template	COM
Backup type	COMPLETE DATA
Data carrier type	FILE
Data carrier (Device/File)	DEMODB_COM Note that if you do not enter an absolute path, then the database system uses the run directory of the database Example: C:\ProgramData\sdb\globaldata\wrk\DEMODB\DEMODB_COM
Size of data carrier	No restriction (blank or 0)
Block size	8 pages
Overwritable	Yes

Example of a Backup Template for a Log Backup
Property	Value
Name of the backup template	DEMODB_LOG
Backup type	LOG
Data carrier type	FILE
Data carrier (Device/File)	DEMODB_MYLOG Note that i you do not enter an absolute path, then the database system uses the run directory of the database Example: C:\ProgramData\sdb\globaldata\wrk\DEMODB\DEMODB_LOG
Size of data carrier	No restriction (blank or 0)
Block size	8 pages
Overwritable	No

 

SAP MaxDB - Using Third-Party Backup Tools

 

You can use third-party backup tools to back up and restore data and log entries. Some of these backup tools are supported directly by SAP MaxDB. With operating system scripts, you can also use all other backup tools that can process backups from pipes, even if they are not directly supported by SAP MaxDB.

 

Caution : For backup tools not directly supported by SAP MaxDB: After the database system has backed up data to a pipe, it cannot check whether the backup was successful (the backup history does not offer reliable information in this case). Use your operating system script to check whether the backup was successful.

 

TSM (IBM/Tivoli) -

You can connect TSM using the TSM client adint2 or using the Backint for Oracle interface.

With adint2, you achieve better performance. However, this program is not available on all platforms.

 

NetWorker (Legato) -

You can connect NetWorker using the command line clients SAVE, RECOVER and MMINFO that are included in the Networker software, or using the Backint for Oracle interface.

The command line clients deliver better performance.

 

All backup tools that support Backint for SAP MaxDB -

Backint for SAP MaxDB is an interface that is supported by various third-party vendors.

 

All backup tools that support Backint for Oracle -

Backint for Oracle is an interface that is supported by various third-party vendors.

 

Procedure - Use the normal backup and restore functions.

Result - When data is backed up using a backup tool that is supported directly by the database system, each backup or data stream is given an external backup ID (External Backup ID).

 

 

SAP MaxDB - Connecting Third-Party Backup Tools

 

Together with SAP MaxDB database tools, you can use third-party backup tools to backup, restore, export, and import data.

 

SAP MaxDB supports a direct connection to a range of third-party backup tools. This requires you to configure the SAP MaxDB software accordingly.

You may also use third-party backup tools which are not directly supported by SAP MaxDB, provided that these tools can retrieve data from pipes.

If, for example, you want to back up the data stored in a database or export data from a database, you can save this data using the SAP MaxDB database tools to files, pipes, or tapes (by means of a tape device).

However, you can also use a third-party backup tool to back up the data on to a data carrier. Even then you can control the necessary actions using the SAP MaxDB database tools. The backup tool provides the data carrier onto which you can save or export your data.

You can use third-party backup tools for the following actions:

• Backing up to data carriers

  • Complete data backups

  • Incremental data backups

  • Log backups

  • Archiving the backup files (for log backups)

• Restoring backups

  • Restoring the database using data backups, log backups, and archived log backups

• Exporting data to data carriers

  • Exporting the entire database

  • Exporting the entire database catalog

• Importing data from the data carriers

  • Importing the entire database

  • Importing the entire database catalog

 

Recommendation

After you have defined the configuration, test all the planned actions. This allows you to familiarize yourself with the relevant SAP MaxDB database tool, and to test the correct configuration of the SAP MaxDB software for the backup tool. This is a prerequisite for ensuring that no errors occur when the third-party backup tool is used to back up, restore, import, or export data while the system is running in production operation.

End of the recommendation.

Constraints

With backups and restores, you only can switch from Microsoft Windows to Linux and vice versa. This means that a backup created on the Microsoft Windows operating system can only be restored on the same operating system or on Linux. A backup created on Linux can only be restored on the same operating system or on a Microsoft Windows operating system.

For data migration between different operating systems, in most cases Loader will be the best tool to use. Loaderl does not impose any restrictions on switching operating systems when exporting or importing data. However, there may be restrictions since various backup devices have a limited independence of the operating system. If, for example, you want to switch from Microsoft Windows to Unix, a tape device or a third-party backup tool must be compatible with both operating systems. Check this beforehand in your backup device documentation.

 

SAP MaxDB :: Displaying Information About the Data Area

Prerequisites

Log on to the database as the database system administrator or as a DBM operator.

The database should be in the ONLINE operational state.

Procedure

Select the database in the explorer tree.

In the context menu of the database, choose Administration.

Open the Data Area tab page.

 

Property	Description
General	Current and maximum configurable number of data volumes
Usage	Used space and free space in the data area
Parameters	Database parameters relevant for data volumes
Data Volumes	Configured data volumes

 

SAP MaxDB :: Displaying Information About the Log Area

 

Prerequisites

Log on to the database as the database system administrator or as a DBM operator.

The database should be in the ONLINE operational state.

Procedure

Select the database in the explorer tree.

In the context menu of the database, choose Administration.

Open the Log Area tab page.

 

Log Area: Information

Property	Description
General	Log settings: o Log Mode o Overwrite Mode for the Log Area o Redo Log Management Automatic log backup: Activating or Deactivating Automatic Log Backup To change any of these settings, choose the corresponding link.
Usage	Free and used space in the log area
Activities	Information on logging: o Log pages written with redo log entries o Wait for Log Writer Indicates how often the system had to wait for a commit or rollback for the Log Writer for finish an I/O operation o Group Commits Indicates how often the system wrote pages that waited for more than one task o If the value of Log I/O Queue Overflow is greater than 0, increase the space available for log queues. You can configure the number of log queues with the special database parameter LogQueues and the size of the log queues with LogQueueSize.
Parameters	Database parameters relevant for log volumes
Log Volumes	Configured log volumes

Monitoring SAP MaxDB Databases

Below are the monitoring activities to be performed

• Automatic Problem Notification
• Monitoring Free Space in the Data Area
• Monitoring Free Space in the Log Area
• Monitoring the Hit Rate for Access to the Caches
• Monitoring Backups
• Monitoring Database Activities
• Monitoring the Number of Database Sessions
• Monitoring Security-Relevant Activities

 

Changing SAP MaxDB Database Properties

Property	Restrictions	Modifiable
Database name	Conventions for Database Names	No
Database System Administrator: Name and password	Conventions for User Names and Passwords	Name: No Password: Yes
Data area (data volumes): Size (=database size), directory, automatic extension Log area (log volumes): Size and directory	General database parameters MaxDataVolumes and MaxLogVolumes	Yes
Working memory used by the database	General database parameter CacheMemorySize Note that this parameter only roughly determines the size of the working memory used by the database. There are database functions which also need a certain amount of working memory, but whose memory consumption is not configured with this parameter.	Yes
Number of CPUs	General database parameter MaxCPUs	Yes
Maximum number of parallel database sessions	General database parameter MaxUserTasks	Yes
Maximum number of locks	General database parameter MaxSQLLocks	Yes
Automatic update of the SQL optimizer statistics	For SAP systems, see SAP note 927882.	Yes
Automatic log backup	-	Yes
Automatic database start	Only available on Microsoft Windows	Yes
Log settings	-	Yes

SAP MaxDB Automating Administration Tasks

As a database administrator, you must periodically carry out certain administration tasks. In addition to these, you may need to carry out further administration tasks after specific system events have occurred.

Some administration tasks can be automated using special automating functions, others can be planned with the scheduler, triggered by events or triggers, or planned with the DBA Planning Calendar.

 

Using Automating Functions

• Automatic extension of the data area (database size)
• Automatic Log Backup
• Automatic update of the SQL optimizer statistics

 

Using the Scheduler

You can use the scheduler to schedule DBM commands to be executed at specific times. For that purpose, you log on to the database and create a job in the scheduler for every DBM command to be executed. You must activate the scheduler for the jobs to be executed.

The scheduler uses a separate DBM server process for the connection to the database. Therefore, the scheduler remains active when you stop the database.

 

Using Database Events

You can define that database events are triggered under specific circumstances, and that certain actions are carried out in response to these events, for example sending an e-mail, executing a DBM command or executing a command from another program.

 

Using Database Triggers

You can use database triggers to trigger actions in the database following certain data changes or a restart

 

Using the DBA Planning Calendar

In SAP systems, you can plan periodic administration tasks with the DBA Planning Calendar.