Clarity v12 - Server OS Preference

[Anon Anon]

Hi Gurus,  we are in the final stage in Planning v12 upgrade and  are in a postition to move out of current hardware and our sun solaris os too.We finally have 3 options in our hand for server operating systemsfor our v12 upgrade.  1.   Red Hat Linux 5 - 64 Bit.  2.   AIX 5.3 - 64 bit.  3. Windows 2008 Server 64 Bit   (But less votes for it internally by our   Technology Team)  Can you pls advice us which option is more stable and performs well with "Clarity"and any suggestions is welcome.  Regards,sundar

[System]

Hi All,  Does anyone have any feedback for Sundar?  Thanks!Chris

[Anon Anon]

Gurus,  i would like to  provide some  additional details.  we are still in the un-supported version 7.5.2 fixpack 02 and we initially planned to move to 8.1.3 but now v12 has come we are planning to go the latest version / fixpack.Our hardware & OS (Sun solaris 2.8) is also become obselete so we are moving out to an new box/os.we are planning to get 2 Big boxes (one for app,bg,reports) (32 GB Ram - 64 bit) and another one for DB (32GB of ram - 64 bit) each one will act as an failover.  we have 5500 active users and use actuate reports.And surely the users will double in very near future.we use Project Management,Timesheets,Resource Management,Financial Management and Process Mgmt & Demand Management (To an Extent) and Access rights.we have an total of 16000 Projects in clarity and 350 - 450 new projects created monthly.(In future Yearly 5000 Projects is sure)  Customisation:-500 custom attributes.
15 Custom Objects.
15 Custom Reports.
12 Custom Portlets.  we are moving to BO from actuate with out there will be no use that's sure.Then we are planning to use clarity more extensively like integrating with sharepoint,remedy more process mgmt,portfolio mgmt,Financial mgmt(As our recharge happens here) and extensively planning to use Demand Mgmt.currently clarity is the our document mgmt sytem (Project Related) so the filestore is fully loaded.
 
Regards,sundar

[Anon Anon]

Sundar,     Business objects is an enterprise application in its own rite.   I would highly recommend having the report serveron a dedicated machine.   It doens't have to be as massive as the application or database servers.   Also there aretwo versions of Business Objects - CABI (CA Business Intelligence).   You will want to make sure you get the 2.1Version for 64 bit support.   As with anything you will need to check the Product Architecture stack.   I know thatthe 64 bit CABI works very well on windows.   I don't know about the other platforms.       Also with your upgrade you might need to go through some intermediate upgrades to get to your final Clarityversion.   I would recommend at least putting on the latest service pack before upgrading to a different version.  I find that it helps to comb through any potential database problems.  Also don't forget to do a proper sizing and tuning of your database server.    What is your current database platform?    mm    

[Anon Anon]

mm,

 we have proposed 3 Huge Servers dedicately for app,bg and reports.(OS - Red Hat linux 64 Bit)i have serious doubts whether we move to Business Objects in v12 now or stay with actuate 9 for time being.

 The reason being we have developed 12 custom reports in actuate,can we develop
the same in BO in a short time.(5 months for upgrade) as we don't have the expertise in BO Web Intelligence and crystal reports.In actuate we will call the custom procedure and pass the paramaters, but can the same can be done in the current version supported by CA? .

If any   issues in BO CA   will not support more than certain level (we need to check SAP support site.) The same thing happened when we got
issues 4 yrs back in actuate.No help.i explored a lot and in pain & vain developed / fixed the issues in reports.

Not able to see solutions provided to BO related Posts here.(Only help at Installtion,db connection etc).
so it is better to go with actuate and then move to BO (May be after 6 months).we can have also some time to attend training.Our team know BO
(web Int and crystal reports) since we are having an reporting solutiondeveloped based on BO Crystal.But in all the reports the data is shown from the
temp tables. Our actuate reports are compilicated and all are key financial reports.i know we are missing the power of BO but it is just for time being.what is your suggestion?  Proposed One:-- (3 servers as the same config below (app,reports,db)
our current Hardware & software profile.Hardware Profile -- > Application(App,bg,reports) .The same config for DB too

Hardware Model:                       Sun E480R
Processor:                                       4 X 900 MHz
RAM:                                                       16 GB RAM
HDD:                                                     SAN (Current 400 GB)

Software Profile:
Operating System                                   Sun Solaris 2.8
Clarity version                                                 Clarity 7.5.2
Oracle                                                                         Oracle 9.2.0.6
Oracle Client:                                                 Oracle Client 9.2.0.6
Reporting Tool                                               Actuate 7 SP2.
Application Server                                   Orion 2.0.2.
Sun Java                                                               J2SE 1.4.2_01
Sun JRE                                                                 JRE 1.4.2_01
SSL Enabled:                                                   Yes
LDAP                                                                             Yes
Database                                                               55 GB
Filestore                                                                   95 GB

Cheers,
sundar

[Coen Verweij]

Hi Sundar,


Background information
I don't know your geographic location or background. But I'm employed by a small to medium-sized consultancy company in the Netherlands (Odysseus - http://www.odysseusnl.com). I'm a developer and our team has experience with regards to: Clarity v7.5 - v12.0.4 portlets, interfaces, Actuate/BusinessObjects reports, PL/SQL, etc.etc.
 

On-topic   
If any   issues in BO CA   will not support more than certain level (we need to check SAP support site.) The same thing happened when we got
issues 4 yrs back in actuate.No help.i explored a lot and in pain & vain developed / fixed the issues in reports.
That's exactly the reason why we introduced third-line support (3LO) for our clients.    
i have serious doubts whether we move to Business Objects in v12 now or stay with actuate 9 for time being.

 The reason being we have developed 12 custom reports in actuate,can we develop
the same in BO in a short time.(5 months for upgrade) as we don't have the expertise in BO Web Intelligence and crystal reports.In actuate we will call the custom procedure and pass the paramaters, but can the same can be done in the current version supported by CA? .
I'm more than familiar with your 'reserved hesitation' regarding the transition of Actuate to BO. Many of our clients do have and have had the same reservation. As of this moment most of our clients stay with Actuate (and the financial crisis didn't help much either).
Although I have to admit a BO report can be less complex than Actuate and thus easier to develop. But do not underestimate the construction of the underlying BO universe. In my experience the universe is far more complex and time-consuming to develop (due to business-logic) then to develop the BO reports.  My advice
Start a proof of concept. Set up a (virtualized) development or sandbox environment with an upgraded Clarity to v12. Start constructing the BO universe based on one or two most complex high-profile reports that you have. Most likely the other reports will share a fare amount of attributes, they are now contained in the universe. The other BO reports are most likely quicker to develop.
Work in short and clear concise phases with go and no-go moments. Involve key "report" persons during these phases. Let them also decide if BO for now is the way they want to go. Think about ad-hoc reporting.

And in my honest opinion don't count on SAP support site. You require in-depth knowlegde of the Clarity datamodel, the tools are less relevant in this respect.

If you need support/help/advice, consult a company that is specialized with Clarity PPM and Business Intelligence solutions. CA should know them for your geographic location (for example Xinify in North AMerica, Odysseus in the Benelux).  Cheers (please keep this post updated so that I can follow your upgrade process),Remko Lems

[Anon Anon]

Sundar,  For that many users, how many may be concurrent?   How many app servers do you plan on using in the cluster?   I'm assuming you're clustering your sql server as well?  CA has a build/reference architecture doc that simulates the 'horsepower' and number of servers you need in order to support 'X' amount of concurrent users.   I'll do some digging and get it for you.    As far as OS knowledge, I have only installed Clarity on Windows 2003 Server 32-bit using MS SQL 2005.

[Anon Anon]

Please reference the attached 'Clarity r8.1 Windows Sample Deployment Architectures.pdf' document which was designed for Clarity 8.1  This may help in providing insight to your question(s).  You may want to contact CA for an R12 version of this document.   Please share that doc with me if you get it.  Thanks     Note From CA:   This document is marked for CA Internal Use Only.   I have removed the document until we can confirm it can be posted on this forum.   We will replace it if it is deemed acceptable for public distribution.  Message Edited by SuzetteP on 10-05-2009 12:08 PM [left]

[Anon Anon]

Hi,  Many Thanks for the Doc.i will contact support and let u know.  Regards,sundar  

[Anon Anon]

FYI, I have obtained an R12 sample deployment architecture doc from CA.     This may help you even more.     Note From CA:   This document is marked for CA Internal Use Only.   I have removed the document until we can confirm it can be posted on this forum.   We will replace it if it is deemed acceptable for public distribution.  Message Edited by SuzetteP on 10-05-2009 12:10 PM [left]    My apologies, I spoke to our local CA rep prior to posting the doc and they said it wouldn't be a problem.   I guess that was wrong... Message Edited by TConnery on 10-30-2009 09:05 AM [left]

[Anon Anon]

Many thanks connery.It will surely help.    Cheers,Sundar    

[Anon Anon]

Lems,  Thanks for your suggestions.we are in early stage of our v12 upgrade .will let you know the status...  cheers,sundar

[Legacy User]

Hi Sundar,

I hope you have now successfully upgraded to v12

I got your detail thru clairyt community

We are also inprocess to upgrade Clarity to v12

Current Version is 7.5.3 FP 08

It will great if you can share your knowledge/document with me

Thanks in Advance
Hemlata

[Anon Anon]

CABI 2.1 does not support windows 2008 servers. It requires NTLM which was removed from WIN2008 so if windows than it has to be WIN2003...