Although miniaturization is highly valued in the high-tech world, it’s not often desired in technical documentation. Sometimes bigger really is better. Consider the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence 4.0 Sizing Companion.
Several months ago, I wrote an article entitled Sizing the Adaptive Processing Server in BI 4.0 describing my initial research with the Adaptive Processing Server in SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence 4.0 SP2. I wrote my findings using an early copy of the SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 Sizing Companion, available from the SAP Support Portal.
Sizing Companion for SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 (SPO)
SBO_BI_4_O_Companion_V2.pdf
version 0.8 aka v2
June 2011
67 pages
Sadly, that edition of the sizing companion has been retired in favor of a much shorter version (reduced from 67 to just 19 pages) that omits many of the details that I quoted.
SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 Sizing Companion (version 4)
SBO_BI_4_0_Companion_V4.pdf
March 8, 2012
19 pages
SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 Sizing Companion (version 3)
SBO_BI_4_0_Companion_V3.pdf
January 2, 2012
17 pages
Apparently I should start selling the old v2 edition on eBay as a collector’s item and pocket some cash? The most recent version lists Jason DeMelo as its author, but he no longer works at SAP. Does anyone know if a larger (and more complete) sizing companion is coming with SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence 4.0 Feature Pack 3 or Support Pack 4?
Many of us currently adopting BI 4.0 are looking for a “cookbook” approach to sizing and still haven’t found it. Suggestion to SAP: less Weight Watchers and more Paula Deen. Throwing a few sticks of butter into the BI 4.0 Sizing Companion would be a good start.
Have you found the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence 4.0 Architecture and Sizing Cookbook? I’m still looking. In the meantime, try baking a batch of SAP Mentor Dave Rathbun’s famous Chocolate Chip Cookies.
How ’bout a 1 page interactive dashboard:
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/index?rid=/library/uuid/1055c550-ce45-2f10-22ad-a6050fff97f1
Interesting, but what about the “This tool should not be relied on in making a purchase decision…” disclaimer. By the time I get done reading the disclaimer, I wonder why I bothered to download.
In any case, the quick sizer and this dashboard only provide high-level statistics like memory and processors. We’ve been relying on the sizing companion to understand how to lay out the servers, how to cut up the Adaptive Processing Server, etc. Thankfully, the SAP Press book SAP BusinessObjects System Administration from Eric Vallo and Greg Myers should answer these questions.