Voith chose to extend its existing Power Systems server landscape with POWER6 and POWER7 processor-based servers as the platform of choice, and migrate its SAP database to IBM DB2 for Linux, Unix and Windows version 9.5. Average SAP response time is up to 20 percent faster, Software license costs have decreased, and maintenance, administration and operational expenses have been reduced

1. IBM Systems & Technology Group
Smarter Computing
Voith boosts productivity,
cuts costs with IBM
Power Systems and DB2
Voith sets standards in the energy, oil and gas, paper, raw materials
Overview and transportation and automotive markets. Founded in 1867, Voith
employs almost 40,000 people, generates €5.2 billion in sales, operates
The need in about 50 countries around the world and is today one of the biggest
Prices in Voith’s principal businesses
are governed by fierce international
family-owned companies in Europe.
commodity markets, and the key to
increasing profitability and margins is cost Sale prices in Voith’s principal businesses are governed by fierce
control. Voith found its database license, international commodity markets, and the key to increasing
storage and IT infrastructure operational
costs were increasing, dragging down profitability and margins is cost control. It is essential to cut
total business efficiency. administration expenses at every opportunity. As business volumes were
rising, Voith found its database license, storage and IT infrastructure
The solution
Voith chose to extend its existing Power operational costs were increasing, dragging down total business
Systems server landscape with POWER6 efficiency.
and POWER7 processor-based servers
as the platform of choice, and migrate its
Voith was faced with the need to operate its SAP systems more cost-
SAP database to IBM DB2 for Linux, Unix
and Windows version 9.5. efficiently. The Voith team’s evaluation was that migrating database
systems to DB2 would realize significant cost savings.
The benefit
Average SAP response time is up to
20 percent faster, offering increased Key business challenges
productivity for all SAP users. Software • Maintain a stable, reliable solution with high resilience and full
license costs have decreased, and
disaster recovery
maintenance, administration and
operational expenses have been • Control costs, reduce license fees and cut operational expenses
reduced. In addition with DB2 Deep • Increase efficiency by reducing database administration workload
Compression, Voith reduced its storage • Drive return on investment with improved services and reduced IT
requirements by at least 30 percent.
budgets.
In parallel with the business objectives, the Voith IT Solutions division
also wished to address technical challenges, in order to:
• Improve system performance with faster response times for 7,000
SAP users
• Simplify the IT landscape and reduce complexity for more than 80
SAP instances
• Cut data storage volumes and reduce data management costs.

2. IBM Systems & Technology Group
Smarter Computing
Voith set out its project objectives, with cost-savings as the first priority,
Designed for Data and drew up a list of the enabling technologies:
• Voith captures millions of SAP
transactions and delivers data to SAP • Extend the existing Power server landscape with POWER6 and
NetWeaver Business Warehouse and
related analytics applications to help POWER7 processor-based servers
discover new customer insights. • Migrate to IBM DB2 for Linux, Unix and Windows version 9.5
to support all SAP instances by the end of June 2010, offering lower
Tuned to the Task
• Voith runs its SAP applications in virtual
maintenance and licensing costs
servers on IBM Power Systems servers, • Update IBM AIX from 5.3 to 6.1 TL3 to take advantage of advanced
able to adjust processing capacity and virtualization technologies
resources to match the exact need of
• Update IBM PowerHA from 5.5 to 6.1, spanning the twin data
each application’s workload in the most
flexible, cost-efficient manner. centers in Heidenheim, to improve resilience
• Implement IBM Tivoli Storage Manager and Tivoli FlashCopy
Managed in the Cloud
Manager for data management and performing near-instant
• Voith has deployed integrated service
management capabilities at twin data application-aware snapshot backups with minimal performance impact
centers, including a range of Tivoli and for SAP.
InfoSphere products that mask the
complexity of the underlying servers,
storage and network, and helps the Selecting DB2
company provision and deploy new Voith selected IBM DB2 as the target database because it met the key
business services automatically.
business criteria of lower operational costs and enhanced business
Driving Innovation resilience. The close integration provided by the SAP DBA Cockpit for
• The IBM solution enabled Voith to DB2 significantly reduces the database administration workload, and
drive down costs while maximizing simplifies management of the SAP application databases. Furthermore,
performance, a vital advantage in a
fiercely competitive marketplace. Faster SAP’s own use of DB2 as its core database choice offered great
SAP response times enhance employee confidence to Voith that DB2 was a long-term strategic partner for
productivity, helping the company to mission-critical applications.
capitalize on opportunities as soon as
possible.
Migrating the databases presented the largest single challenge,
preserving integrity while minimizing the workload, and ensuring that
the process would involve the least possible total downtime. Voith
selected IBM InfoSphere Change Data Capture (CDC) for one of its
systems, which enables real-time data replication to support migrations,
greatly accelerating the migration process by eliminating redundant
data transfer.
The existing IBM Power architecture was used to support the
migration, by using Logical Partitions (LPARs) to provide independent
servers for each process.
IBM InfoSphere CDC captures only changed data and transfers it from
publisher to subscriber systems. This improves operational efficiency
and saves time and resources by eliminating redundant data transfer
and saving network bandwidth.
IBM InfoSphere CDC includes data transformation and filtering, such
as translation of values, derivation of new calculated fields, and joining
of tables at the source or target. Custom data transformations can be
created, stored and retrieved within InfoSphere CDC as macros, and
row and column selection makes it possible for users to limit access to
sensitive information, or to flow user-specific data to particular sites.

3. IBM Systems & Technology Group
Smarter Computing
Additionally, data stored in various character sets and languages can be
seamlessly replicated to disparate platforms.
Solution Components
Hardware An optimized storage architecture
• IBM Power™ 570 server To support the SAP applications and run the DB2 databases, IBM
• IBM Power 770 server
• IBM System Storage DS8000® Business Partner SVA worked with Voith to deploy the new AIX
LPARs on the four 16-way POWER6 processor-based IBM Power 570
Software servers, with 256 GB memory, with two servers installed in each data
• IBM DB2® for Linux, UNIX and
Windows
center. Using IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller (SVC),
• IBM AIX® the servers were connected to two IBM System Storage DS8000 disk
• IBM PowerHA® systems and several third-party storage devices.
• IBM Tivoli® Storage Manager
• IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager
• IBM System Storage® SAN Volume In each data center, each server was divided into multiple Logical
Controller Partitions (LPARs), and also acted as its twin’s failover server using
• IBM InfoSphere® Change Data Capture PowerHA. For example, Server 1 was divided into 19 LPARs, with
• SAP® ERP
allocations ranging from 4CPU to 0.1CPU, and Server 2 supported 20
IBM Business Partner LPARs with a similar allocation range.
• System Vertrieb Alexander GmbH
(SVA) The PowerHA cluster supported the critical applications on the two
machines, allowing production to continue even if one server suffered
an unplanned outage.
The LPAR technology allows Voith to optimize workload across its
CPU resources by setting maximum allocations that exceed the physical
CPU total. As the workload in each LPAR varies, resources are made
available as required from the physical processor and memory, allowing
each LPAR to maximize throughput.
By implementing IBM SAN Volume Controller, Voith has been able to
unify storage systems from multiple vendors, including HP and IBM.
SAN Volume Controller software is delivered pre-installed on SVC
Storage Engines, ready for implementation once the engines are
attached to the SAN. SVC Storage Engines are based on proven IBM
System x server technology and are deployed in redundant pairs,
designed to deliver very high availability.
SVC takes control of existing storage, presenting the data volumes to
servers as a single storage pool. Because only the SVC storage driver
is needed for all servers or virtual server images, it greatly simplifies
changes to the storage infrastructure. Devices can be added, upgraded
or removed, while the systems, servers and applications are fully
insulated from the underlying technical complexity.
Following the successful introduction of the Power servers, Voith
installed two additional POWER6 processor-based systems prior to
the migration to DB2. As the SAP application landscape has expanded,
the number of servers and LPARs has also grown. The original four
POWER5 servers and the two additional POWER6 servers now
support between 80 to 100 LPARs, which is easily possible with the
enhanced performance of the POWER processors and PowerVM

4. IBM Systems & Technology Group
Smarter Computing
capabilities such as Virtual I/O Servers and micropartitioning. During
the DB2 migration project Voith also installed the new generation of
POWER servers, two IBM Power 770 with POWER7 processors, each
with 24 cores and 768 GB memory.
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Enjoying the Benefits
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Alongside the technical effects of data compression achieved in the 8010 Zürich
migration to DB2, the database consumes less main memory by around ibm.com/ch
40 percent, therefore the physical database RAM is effectively 40 Produced in Germany
percent larger. The result is that even though the amount of physical July 2011
main memory has remained unchanged, more main memory is available All Rights Reserved
per transaction, which in turn improves performance without requiring IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, Tivoli, AIX, DB2 and System
additional investment in memory or bandwidth. Storage are trademarks of International Business Machines
Corporation, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.
A current list of other IBM trademarks is available on
Through the use of advanced IBM virtualization technologies, Voith the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at:
also achieves better CPU utilization, and CPU workload reductions ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml.
for some systems – exploiting current processor investments to the References in this publication to IBM products, programs
maximum by handling greater workload with the same physical capacity. or services do not imply that IBM intends to make these
available in all countries in which IBM operates. Any
reference to an IBM product, program or service is not
Average SAP response time is up to 20 percent faster, offering increased intended to imply that only IBM’s product, program or
productivity for all SAP users service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product,
program or service may be used instead.
Better memory utilization through DB2 compression techniques All customer examples cited represent how some customers
means that Voith avoids the need for additional investments in memory have used IBM products and the results they may have
achieved. Actual environmental costs and performance
capacity. Around 40 percent more data can be put in memory, which in characteristics will vary depending on individual customer
turn offers a better cache hit ratio and results in better SAP application configurations and conditions.
response time. By comparison, the Oracle databases consumed more
IBM hardware products are manufactured from new parts,
database cache and RAM with a hit rate of about 97 percent. With DB2 or new and used parts. In some cases, the hardware product
the cache hit rate is more than 99 percent. For databases with up to 100 may not be new and may have been previously installed.
Regardless, IBM warranty terms apply.
billion accesses per week, this incremental improvement has produced
significant performance gains resulting in 20 percent faster response This publication is for general guidance only.
time for the SAP users. Photographs may show design models.
I/O traffic reduced by up to 40 percent, which leads to improved Please Recycle
performance without having to invest in additional processor, memory
or network capacity.
For more information
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