Overview
Please find a short overview presentation about the possibilities for System Monitoring of SAP HANA with SAP Solution Manager in the attached presentation.
Prerequisites
The metrics for SAP HANA are collected by two different data collectors. The data collector "HANA Database Alerts" collects the metrics that are based on alerts that are created in HANA itself. The second data collector "HANA Database Metrics" collects metrics based on SQL select statement that are send via the DBACockpit connection.
To make sure that you have the latest code changes make sure you implement the required notes for you SP level as listed in the section Prerequisite Notes for SAP HANA Monitoring.
We ship new metrics for SAP HANA with pretty much each support package. All metrics are downported to SAP Solution Manager 7.1 SP 12, some metrics are also downported to SAP Solution Manager 7.1 SP 10. Please note that, if you want to use the metrics collected by the data collector "HANA Database Metrics", you will need at least ST-PI support package 10, which is automatically deployed with SAP Solution Manager 7.1 SP 12. It is possible to deploy ST-PI SP 10 and higher also to older support packages of SAP Solution Manager. Please refer to ST-PI release note 539977 for details.
In case, you are about to connect HANA 2.0, please read the SAP note 2403493.
If you plan to monitor HANA liveCache metrics as well, then the relevant authorizations need to be granted. Either the DBACOCKPIT user can be used or the existing MONITORING user can be extended (for both options please refer to SAP note 1640741).
Data Collection
The data for most of the HANA metrics is collected via the DBA Connection between SAP HANA and SAP Solution Manager. This connection is created during the managed system setup of the SAP HANA database.
The metrics for the OS level templates are collected by the SAP Hostagent and delivered by the SAP Diagnostics Agent.
For single-node databases the SAP Hostagent can also collect some HDB process information.
Available Templates and Metrics
All metrics are in general available as of SAP Solution Manager 7.1 SP 12 or higher. The metrics are shipped with the MAI content in ST-CONT. You can find an XLS spreadsheet with all metrics here.
To make sure you have all metrics available please make sure you applied the latest version of the MAI content via the step 2.7 "Update Content" in the System Monitoring setup.
In the templates you will find that there are some metrics with a prefix which are shipped per default as inactive. Those metrics are applicable for certain HANA options like System Replication, Dynamic Tiering etc. The following metrics are use-case specific and should only be activated if you run this use-case:
- SR: Metrics relevant for HANA System Replication
- DT: Metrics for HANA Dynamic Tiering
- DP: Metrics for Data Provisioning (Part of Smart Data Integration)
- DS: Metrics are only relevant for Smart Data Streaming
- SDI: Metric relevant for Smart Data Integration
SAP Solution Manager 7.2
SAP Solution Manager offers several SAP standard monitoring templates for SAP HANA. The usage of those templates depends on the exact scenario. Which templates to use when and what are the difference between them, is described in this chapter.
Over the past years, the scope of SAP HANA monitoring supportability has been continuously enhanced. Started with a monitoring template for a single SAP HANA DB (current shipped as SAP HANA DB (OLD)), later introducing the SAP HANA (NEW) template, followed by the templates for HANA instances, system replication and finally the MDC.
SAP Solution Manager 7.2 SP3 and higher
Starting with the support package stack 3 and higher all below mentioned SAP HANA templates are available to cover the monitoring for SAP HANA 1.0 and 2.0, except those for the tenant DB. The MDC templates have been shipped starting with SP5.
Templates on Database Level
On the database level three SAP templates are available:
- SAP HANA DB (NEW): This templates contains all metrics available for SAP HANA. It also contains metrics that can be potentially collected on database instance level. Do not apply this template and the SAP HANA template on database instance level (SAP HANA DB Instance (instance level separated)) together. If you apply these two templates together the metrics that can be collected on instance level will be collected twice. Once on database level and again on database instance level.
- SAP HANA DB (OLD): This template also contains all metrics but just grouped differently. Same as for the first one, also this template should not be applied together with the instance specific template.
- SAP HANA DB (instance level separated): This template contains only metrics that cannot be collected on database instance level. Please use this template together with the template “SAP HANA DB 1.0/2.0 Instance (instance level separated)” on database instance level.
Background: The difference between SAP HANA OLD and NEW is the way the metrics are grouped in the template. In the older template, the metrics are grouped under very few but generic alerts, like the alert "HDB Space Management" that contains different metrics related to space management in HANA.
The new one is closer to the actual structure of the alert in HANA. For each alert in HANA there is one alert in the template with the respective metric. This makes it easier to see with one alert what is going on. Also, the Guided Procedures are now assigned to a single alert. We have several Guided Procedures to address HANA alerts and they are assigned to the respective alert in the SAP HANA DB (NEW) template.
The difference between the templates only exists for the metrics based on HANA alerts. The metrics collected by SAP Solution Manager additionally using the "HANA Database Metrics" collector exist the same way in both templates.
The recommended approach is also to use the SAP HANA DB (NEW) template.
Templates on Database Instance Level
On database instance level, there are four templates "SAP HANA DB Instance".
- SAP HANA DB 1.0 Instance
- SAP HANA DB 1.0 Instance (instance level separated)
- SAP HANA DB 2.0 Instance
- SAP HANA DB 2.0 Instance (instance level separated)
The (instance level separated) templates contain metrics, which can be separated by host, in HANA's case by HANA node. This templates should be only applied in a combination with "SAP HANA DB (instance level separated)" template on database level.
Another two template just contain instance aware metrics and show the metrics values filtered by instance. Please apply this template together with (NEW) or (OLD) from the DB level.
Remark: the monitoring of the HANA DB instances has been originally introduced with SAP Solution Manager 7.1 SP14.
Templates on Database Replication Group Level
If you have a SAP HANA system with a system replication setup you can assign the template "SAP HANA DB 1.0/2.0 Replication Group" to the virtual database which marks the entry point to the system replication group. This template contains metrics and alerts that are relevant for SAP HANA system replication scenario. Alternatively, instead of this template, you can also activate the system replication specific metrics in the templates on database level. System replication specific metrics have the prefix ‘SR’ on the database level template.
Remark: the monitoring of the HANA DB replication has been originally introduced with SAP Solution Manager 7.1 SP14. Till SAP Solution Manager 7.2 SP7 only 2-tier replication scenario is officially supported! The 3-tier (in fact N-tier) SR scenario is supported as of SP8.
The same prerequisite applies for the supportability of Multitarget System Replication. Additionally, for the Multitarget SR to ensure the correct behavior of Data Supplier, HANA should have at least revisions 2.00.024.10, 2.00.037.01 or 2.00.040.00. For the lower revisions it will work also, but with some limitations.
Templates on Tenant Database Instance Level
Under the Tenant Database Instance, the SAP standard templates for MDC can be found. Available as of SP5. As it can be assumed, based on the template naming, they are identical with the templates from the instance level and should be used in the same way as the instance templates.
- SAP HANA DB 1.0 Tenant Instance
- SAP HANA DB 1.0 Tenant Instance (instance level separated)
- SAP HANA DB 2.0 Tenant Instance
- SAP HANA DB 2.0 Tenant Instance (instance level separated)
Remark: Starting with SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 01, MDC will be the only operational mode for SAP HANA systems.
Monitoring of SAP HANA XS Advanced
In case, you would like to monitor the XSA in addition to HANA, please refer to SAP HANA XSA System Monitoring setup.
Activating System Monitoring for HANA
The activation of Technical System Monitoring is done as for all other technical system. Go to SOLMAN_SETUP -> Application Operations -> System Monitoring -> Step: Define Scope and select your HANA system or your ABAP on HANA system. Assign the required templates for SAP HANA and activate it.
For more information regarding the initial setup of system monitoring and further configuration steps, please refer to the System Monitoring "Setup and Configuration" area.
After successful activation the result can be seen in the System Monitoring UI. To open this UI, please click on the "System Monitoring" tile in the SAP Solution Manager launchpad and specify the relevant scope (e.g. the SID of your HANA system).
Metrics Configuration
As with every monitoring you might want to change certain settings on a metric like the threshold or the collection period. In case of SAP HANA this is not necessarily straight forward, as we have different ways how we collect the metrics and where values are rated. Some metrics are already rated in SAP HANA so they don't have a threshold to change in SAP Solution Manager.
The minimum collection period for SAP HANA metrics is 5 minutes. The reason is that the metrics are collected via pull RFC via the DB connection and this extractors cannot run more frequent than every 5 minutes.
| Metric | Collection Method | Threshold Changes | Collection Period Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metric ID is < 1000 and the threshold is "Already Rated" | Collected from an existing alert in HANA (rated in HANA) | SAP HANA | Change in SAP HANA and adjust in SAP Solution Manager template |
| Metric ID is < 1000 and the threshold is set in Solution Manager template | Collected from an existing alert in HANA (values collected from HANA and rated in Solution Manager) | SAP Solution Manager | Change in SAP HANA and adjust in SAP Solution Manager template |
| Metric ID is >= 1000 | Collected via SQL request to SAP HANA, values rated in Solution Manager | SAP Solution Manager | Change in SAP Solution Manager template (Be careful with this changes as the SQL itself might contains a time definition, e.g. values for last hour) |
In general you should be careful with changes to the collection period as this can change the behaviour and hence the meaning of a metric.
Metrics Consistency Check
With the latest version of SAP note 2211415 we ship an application within DBACOCKPIT that allows you to compare the thresholds between SAP HANA and SAP Solution Manager.
As a prerequisite for this tool the SAP HANA database must be connected to SAP Solution Manager successfully and the System Monitoring must have been activated and carried out at least once.
Open transaction DBACOCKPIT and select the SAP HANA system you want to check. Select 'Self-Monitoring' and check of you see the alert 'Check for Thresholds of Alerts and Metrics'.
Double-click on the alert and switch to the Repair Tool.
In the next screen you see an overview over the settings in SAP HANA and SAP Solution Manager. Switch to Edit node to change the settings in SAP HANA.
You cannot change the settings in SAP Solution Manager here, as the template can be used by more than one SAP HANA system. To change the settings in SAP Solution Manager please switch to the Technical Monitoring Template Management.
