SAP on Sql server 2008

[Mirna]

Hi All,

My company has decided to go with Sap and we are a medium size company. We will have 120 users and it can go up till 250 in the next few years. we have major dilema as what should be the database. I personally prefer Sql Server 2008 as I have experience with it (Btw i am totall novice in Sap) and most of the vendors we have talked to prefer Db2, SAP itself prefers DB2 as they have built the software on DB2.

I do know that DB2 is very robust in mainframe enviornment.

My questions is Db2 better than Sql server 2008 for Sap? If so why ?

Any suggestions would be really helpful in a long way as we are ready to invest the money now and I just want to take the right step going forward.

Thanks,
Mirna.

[Rampa]

I think you should go with the db that you´ve got most expertise on.

[Portal]

Originally Posted by Rampa

I think you should go with the db that you´ve got most expertise on.

I agree 100%

[Mirna]

I understand I have to go with what I am comfortable with , but i am looking for more information like will Sql server handle huge volumes of data with respect to the Sap enviornment with 250 users and my experience with sql server is few hundred gigbytes of data. Similarly looking for advantages and disadvantages kind off information. Thanks for the help .

[ERP]

Go ahead with MSSQL Sever, we have one of our system with this DB since 2001, we started with MSSQL 2000, then upgraded to MSSQL 2005 now we are going to MSSQL 2008, we have about 600 users and the DB size is 1.5 TB aprox.

If you are confortable with this, do not hesitate and go ahead.

Good luck,
ERP.

[SAPMM]

Stick with whichever DB your team has a skillset with.

Where I work we use MS SQL 2008 (previously used 2005 and 2000) and we have 14,500 users (4,000 regulalry show as being 'active' in our R/3 system) and the DB isn't an issue.

I used to work for a main bank where we used Oracle - and I much prefer MS SQL.

[Golfi]

I have worked with all 4. I believe the best advice would be as advised already and use the DB you have the best skills in but also consider the following points.

1. From a cost point of view Oracle is expensive, DB2 is ready to bargain as they want good market share, if using Windows and virtualisation, especially with clustering SQL is a natural fit. By cost I am not including maintenance costs.

2. From a maintenance point of view SQL and Maxdb have been rewritten in the last few years and they show it. They are much easier to use in general (SQL 2008 is apparently adding a bit more again) and you really need to do very little.

3. From a performance point of view there is some Bias in the world and it can be hard to compare them but being someone who does performance pretty much full time I would say that SQL and MAXDB are close. MAXDB is quite sensitive to poor disk response and SQL cache analysis can be a bit painful in comparison and stats are more rigid. Oracle and DB2 are also close but not as fast as the other two *in my opinion*

4. Oracle and DB2 have an awful lot more settings to play with and tuning that can be done so if you want a more secure job ...

5. From a volume point of view, if you have a huge DB then MAXDB has some limitations but in general all DB's can handle it. For throughput, they all can also handle an awful lot of throughput if tuned correctly and the limitation comes down to disk speed rather than DB choice.

6. From a DR viewpoint they all have their good points with Maxdb being slightly less flexible. There is too much to talk about here.

7. From a future proof viewpoint I would personally say that DB2 and SQL are likely to be the best developed cloud options.

Regards,
Golfi.