Sizing means determining hardware requirements such as memory, CPU power, disk space, I/O capacity, and network bandwidth. It is an iterative process to translate business requirements into hardware requirements, and is usually performed early in the project.
The size of the hardware and database is influenced by both business aspects and technological aspects. This means that the number of users using the various application components and the data load they put on the network must be taken into account.
With the help of SAP Standard Application Benchmark results at www.sap.com/benchmark, statements can be made as to CPU consumption and memory consumption of particular software components.
For sizing we have identified three different and independent sizing models. The first two, user-based sizing and throughput-based sizing, have been implemented in the Quick Sizer.
User-based sizing
We defined three types of active users who work with the system to a different degree. Merely counting the users can be done quite easily. The estimation is quite rough as it says very little about the actual throughput these users produce.
Throughput-based sizing
This model is quite thorough because it relies on actual or on actually expected throughput. Assumptions in business terms (e.g. number of order line items per year) need to be cross-checked against the individual installation.
Customer Performance Test
The according tests are done in a customer system with customer data. The disadvantage is that conducting these tests requires considerable time and money. For further information please refer to the white paper Carrying Out Customer Performance Tests.
Greenfield sizing
If you want to size a new SAP application from scratch, use the Quick Sizer tool or apply the relevant sizing guidelines.
Brownfield sizing
If you have an SAP system running that you want to extend with new functionality / additional users or migrate to SAP HANA, perform brownfield sizing.
Expert sizing
If you are working in a large company with complex business structures, and/or custom coding, perform expert sizing.
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Quick Sizer is a web-based tool designed to make the sizing of SAP Applications easier and faster. It has been developed by SAP in close cooperation with all platform partners and is free of cost.
With Quick Sizer you can translate business requirements into technical requirements. Simply fill in the online questionnaire, an up-to-date survey that is based on business-oriented figures. The results you obtain can help you select an economically balanced system that matches your company's business goals. This is especially useful for initial budget planning.
Please have a look at this short video to get an idea how Quick Sizer works.
There are three flavors of Quick Sizer available. If you are unsure which one to use, please have a look at the description below and this blog post.
HANA-based Quick Sizer
Please use this version, if the product that you want to size uses SAP HANA as database, e.g. SAP S/4HANA, SAP BW/4HANA, etc. In addition, the HANA-based Quick Sizer can be used to conduct a sizing for the SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, which is part of RISE with SAP.
HANA-based Cloud Quick Sizer
Please use this version, if the product that you want to size shall run in the Cloud; e.g. SAP S/4HANA Cloud and SAP Data Warehouse Cloud.
Non-HANA-based Classic Quick Sizer
Please use this version, if the product that you want to size shall run on a non-HANA database.
You can find in the sizing decision tree more information about the right usage of the different sizing methods and tools. If you want to conduct a HANA sizing and you are not sure which tool to use or which SAP note to apply, it’s highly recommended to have a look at this document.
In addition, please have a look at this blog entry which shows the different methods to size SAP S/4HANA; e.g. you will find more information how to use the HANA-based Cloud Quick Sizer for the S/4HANA public cloud.
New sizing trainings for customers and partners
ADM115
You can attend this two-days beginner classroom training to learn more about the basic principles and methods for sizing. Focus is the handling of the Quick Sizer.
ADM114
You can attend this one day virtual classroom training to learn more about the different sizing methodologies and tools from SAP. The training discusses how to conduct a sizing for SAP S/4HANA.
Introductory Resources
Sizing Types
Greenfield Sizing
The term “greenfield sizing” is mostly used in the context of sizing of new applications without or with only little experience with SAP software. It refers to the process of finding out what the main load drivers are and attaching some sizing value to them. Very often, this is done in the early phases of a project where actual business processes and required data volumes are not available in detail. For greenfield sizing, standard tools, such as Quick Sizer and sizing guidelines are used.
Quick Sizer calculates memory, CPU, disk, and I/O resources based on throughput and number of concurrently active users. Watch this video for an introduction to Quick Sizer.
Complete the following steps:
1. Access the Quick Sizer tool
- Use the HANA-based version if you want to size an SAP HANA database (e.g. SAP S/4HANA, SAP S/4HANA Cloud private edition), or the HANA-based Cloud version if you want to conduct an S/4HANA Cloud sizing. The non-HANA-based classic version can be used to size a non-SAP HANA database.
2. Create a sizing project
- Input your customer scenario data into Quick Sizer and it will display the results.
3. Check for sample configurations (HANA-based and non-HANA based classic versions)
- Find the appropriate hardware configuration(s) on SAP Standard Application Benchmarks or on the Certified and Supported SAP HANA Hardware Directory
- For the HANA-based Cloud version: Check if the demand of the application server capacity matches the number of entered FUEs (Full User Equivalents). More information can be found in this blog post.
4. Provide the project name to your hardware vendor, who will then propose an appropriate hardware configuration (HANA-based and non-HANA-based classic versions)
5. If you are unable to find the right sizing for your SAP product in the Quick Sizer tool, consult the sizing guidelines.
Brownfield Sizing
There are different approaches for brownfield sizing, depending on the stage of a solution’s lifecycle. The term brownfield sizing has different meanings. It can be an upgrade-, delta-, re- or migration sizing.
To conduct an upgrade-, delta-, re-sizing you typically measure your current resource consumption (i.e., CPU utilization, table growth, and memory usage) to predict future resource requirements. After analyzing your system, you then add the extra load caused by additional users (re-sizing). If you are conducting a delta sizing, the additional resource requirements for example for S/4HANA embedded analytics can be determined by the Quick Sizer. In that sense, delta sizing is a combination between greenfield and brownfield sizing.
Reference this overview about productive sizing, including re-sizing, delta sizing, and upgrade sizing.
Migration Sizing from a SAP NetWeaver Source System
There are different approaches available, if you want to migrate an existing SAP NetWeaver system from a traditional database to SAP HANA.
The SAP S/4 HANA sizing report (SAP note 1872170) should be used to estimate the hardware requirement if you plan to migrate your SAP NetWeaver-based ECC system to SAP HANA.
If you want to estimate the hardware requirements of an SAP Business Warehouse system after migration to SAP HANA, you should run the BW sizing report (SAP Note 2296290).
Expert Sizing
Typically, in an expert sizing, more profound analyses on the results of a tool-based sizing (Quick Sizer, Sizing Reports, etc.) are performed. There are no standard tools available to conduct expert sizing, but there is a large range of possibilities for such additional analyses.
Very often, direct communication with a sizing expert is already enough to clarify open questions, usually through a support ticket. In such a case, customer specific conditions that have an impact on sizing but cannot be captured in automated tools can be considered as part of the sizing procedure, and sizing results can be adapted immediately to reflect these conditions.
In case of very complex sizing tasks (e.g. when multiple products / components are involved in a sizing exercise) a detailed exploration of some core business processes may be required, both on functional and technical level.
Such a detailed exploration could include the following steps:
- Identify the most important queries/apps/scenarios
- Identify, how they will be used, e.g. filter criteria, authorizations
- Run these queries/apps/scenarios on representative test data (quality of test data and quantity of test data). Ideally, on a recent copy of the production data.
- Measure resource consumption (CPU/memory) and response times
- Perform a forecast calculation based on the expected usage of the queries/apps/scenarios
Please refer to this presentation to get more information what expert sizing can include.
At SAP, expert sizing is typically covered by Consulting and / or Support.