Remote application server Architecture

[JPReyes]

Hi,

I have a requirement where I need to consider having an application server in a different city. This is a simple case of we either make a lot of the connections  travel through the WAN or we install a remote application server and then the only thing that travels is the communications in between the SAP instances. 

I believe the most important thing here will be the latency/speed of the link. Does anyone worked in a similar scenario that can share their experience?..

Regards, Juan

[Reagan · Accepted solution]

Hello Juan

In a setup like this what matters is the network.

We have had setups like this CI and DB in city A and 2 AS's in city B.

It works as expected (especially the performance) as the network is stable.

Also I have seen issues with the log shipping with Oracle standby databases due to bad network.

Regards

RB

[JPReyes · Accepted solution]

Thanks Reagan,

So, beside the single point of failure (Network), is there any other drawbacks with this model?...

I was thinking having 2 application servers in City B using logon balancing to prevent downtime if one of them becomes unavailable..

Regards, Juan

[Reagan · Accepted solution]

As far as I know there isn't any in addition to the network one.

Setting up 2 AS's will be a good option.

Find out few power users and few users who do not depend much on performance. Configure logon groups with these 2 AS's and make those users connect there.

Check with the users after few days. If the performance is acceptable for them and if yes then you have a good setup.

If buffering some tables can give some advantage then I could consider that as well.

Database Table Buffers - Application Development on AS ABAP - SAP Library

Buffering Database Tables (SAP Library - Tables)

Regards

RB

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Juan,

     I feel proud to share this thread with you bcoz i became fan of you by reading your articles

As per my knowledge,   

    The user's who logged in AS (City B) will feel the poor performance when they do the operations like Insert, Delete and Update bcoz the data needs to updated/deleted in the Database of the server which is in City A.

And you mentioned that adding one more AS in the same city B, Will definitely helps to avoid downtime(if one is unavailable) but may not help by means of performance as both are in same city B. Network is same so that Performance also same for one server or more.

These are my views/opinions and correct me if m wrong....

Regards

Santosh K

[JPReyes · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your input. I'm going to set up a test application server and compare the performance in between the scenarios.  I checked the latency in between the two sites and its really low which is a good thing.

This is a balancing act in between volume over the WAN or volume over the CI / AS link.

Regards, Juan

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hello Juan,

Have you considered about placing app servers in the Amazon Web Services (AWS). Would appreciate any inputs, if you have an compared the rough estimates of cost/efforts required between both physical install/maintain vs AWS install/maintain, which is a better option? Any insight is helpful.

Thank you

[JPReyes · Accepted solution]

Hi Sohail,

That is not an option at the moment.  I'll go an do my testing and draw conclusions after that.

Regards, Juan