The document describes how to monitor an SAP system using the Computing Center Management System (CCMS), which allows monitoring of components like the R/3 application servers, database, and operating system. It provides details on the monitoring architecture and tools for monitoring specific aspects of the system like users, workloads, buffers, and the database. Critical tasks for monitoring the system are also listed, such as checking backups, application server status, alerts, logs, jobs, locks, and resolving any issues.
3. The Alert Monitor (RZ20)
View
View
All tree nodes
Monitoring Tree Elements All tree nodes
Monitoring Tree Elements
Represent one physical
Represent one physical
or logical object
or logical object
Monitoring Objects Summarize alerts and
Monitoring Objects Summarize alerts and
propagate to higher
propagate to higher
nodes
nodes
Receive data and may
Receive data and may
create alerts
Monitoring Attributes create alerts
Monitoring Attributes Use data for analysis
Use data for analysis
alerts
alerts
4. <SID>
<SID>
SD
Transport
Database
<host>_<SID>_<No>
Performance
Backup
Monitoring Objects
Operating Syst.
Disk CPU Buffers
All objects summarized in
monitoring tree
Display history and present state,
CPU idle % especially alerts
CPU idle % Monitoring Attributes
Method assignment for:
Analyzing alerts
Reaction and notification
Data collection
5. Monitoring Architecture
Terminology Data Consumer: RZ20
Data Consumer: RZ20
Data Consumer
Data Consumer
A P II
AP
Monitor
Monitor Monitoring Architecture
Monitoring Architecture
Analyze Monitoring Monitoring Monitoring Performance
object object object DB
FM Data
Data Data
Data Data
Data Data
Data
supplier
supplier supplier
supplier supplier
supplier supplier
supplier
R/3
DB OS R/3 Syslog
6. Monitoring: R/3 Servers and
Instances Information:
Application
server 1 Instance names
Hostname
Types of work processes
Release Notes
Work process overview
Application User overview
server 2
SM51
Action:
Application
server x Remote Logon
R/3 System
7. Monitoring: R/3 Users
Application
Server 1
Information:
User
SM04 / AL08 Client
SM04 Terminal
Transaction
.
.
.
AL08
Actions:
Application
Server x Start and stop WPs
Debugging
Trace
End session
SM04
8. Monitoring: Workload Analysis
Information:
Application ST03 Response time
server 1
DB request time
Load time
Wait time
CPU time
Task handler
Dynpro Processor
...
ABAP Processor
Application
Different task types:
r e hc a ps D
server 2
DB-SS
t i
10
11
12
1
2
Dialog
9
8 4
3
Update
7 5
6
Background
RFC
Application Total
server x
9. Monitoring: Buffers
Information (buffers):
Application ST02 Hit ratio
server 1
Free space
Swaps
...
Table
Application Buffer
Information (SAP memory):
server 2
Current in use
Max. used
Name- PXA ... On disk
tab Buffer
In memory
...
Application
server x
10. Use the database analysis tools to look in more detail at alerts shown in RZ20
Database (view in RZ20)
St
<DB System> DB02 t
space management
performance
backup/restore
R/3 consistency ST04
running jobs
health
DB13 DB12
Backup logs
11. CRITICAL TASKS
Checkup that the R/3 System is up
Check daily backup (DB12)
Check all A/s is Up (SM51)
Check the CCMS Alert Monitor (RZ20)
Check for any failed Updates (SM13)
Check System Log (SM21)
Reviewing cancelled Jobs (SM37)
Checking Locks (SM12)
Check for Users on the System (SM04/AL08)
contd…
12. CRITICAL TASKS
Check for Spool Problems (SP01)
Check Job Log (SM35)
Review and Resolve dumps (ST22)
Review Workload Statistics (ST03)
Review buffer statistics (ST02)
Review of DB error logs (AL02/ST04)
Review of O/S logs (AL16/OS06)
Editor's Notes
The R/3 System consists of many software and hardware components that contribute to the overall availability and performance of your R/3 installation. These components include: The operating system (CPU, physical memory, disks, ...) The database The R/3 buffers R/3 services (dialog, update, enqueue, spool, ...) All these components must be monitored regularly. The main goals of system monitoring are as follows: To keep the system running To analyze and correct errors To improve performance System monitoring is performed by different persons depending on their area of responsibility: R/3 System administrators are responsible for assuring the performance of R/3 Database administrators are responsible for assuring the consistency of the database and for restoring the database if a database inconsistency or data loss occurs Operating system administrators are responsible for providing physical storage media The R/3 System should be monitored regularly at least once a day. However, we recommend more frequent monitoring than this, depending on the size of the installation. The System Administration Assistant provides a suitable tool for developing a daily, weekly, or monthly monitoring plan.
From the SAP Easy Access Menu, choose Tools CCMS Control/Monitoring Alert Monitor or call transaction RZ20 directly. The monitoring tree presents a hierarchy of system components displayed by the alert monitors. In Release 4.6, the alert monitor is delivered with standard monitor sets (for example, the SAP CCMS Monitor Templates ) to provide detailed information on specific aspects of your system. The alert monitor uses thresholds and rules to generate alerts whenever anything abnormal occurs in your R/3 System or its environment. Alerts direct your attention to critical situations so that you do not have to discover these for yourself. The alert monitor reports alerts up through the monitoring tree. The color of an MTE always represents the highest alert in all MTEs in its branch. In each monitor, you can switch between a view of the current system status or open alerts: Current system status shows the latest reported data on each MTE. The color of the alert and the alert message text reflect this data. They show the most serious current problem. Open alerts shows where alerts exist that have not yet been analyzed and set to complete. The colors are set according to the most serious unprocessed alert. This view does not necessarily reflect the current status of the system.
All objects to be monitored are summarized in one tree, which displays all the information necessary for monitoring and maintaining your system. Each system component is represented by a monitoring object. These objects have different attributes, for example, CPU utilization is an attribute of the object CPU, and the buffer hit ratio is an attribute of the object buffers. These attributes receive data and may create alerts. The monitoring objects summarize alerts and propagate them to higher tree nodes. Use this information to display the current status of your system or to analyze its history and any alerts that occur. The term monitoring tree element (MTE) is used to denote any node in the tree. The alert monitor comes with numerous pre-delivered collection methods for all vital aspects of your system. The monitoring infrastructure is implemented in C and offers C and ABAP interfaces for adding new MTEs. Using MTEs, external providers can also embed their objects or tools in the monitoring tree architectures.
The alert monitoring framework consists of Data Suppliers (collection methods), Data Consumers (transaction RZ20 , CCMS Monitoring Sets) , and the Monitoring Architecture. This architecture is delivered ready to use with collection methods already created for all major components in the R/3 System environment. Typical data suppliers already active for reporting include: host operating system, R/3 database, R/3 Systems, instances, and their related services and components, and API for external components outside the R/3 System. Data Suppliers, also called Collection Methods, are programs that collect information on different parts of the R/3 System and its environment. The collected data is then passed on to the monitoring infrastructure. Data suppliers “plug into” the monitoring architecture and use its services for displaying and managing the system information. Monitoring Objects represent something in the R/3 System or environment that should be monitored. A monitoring attribute is one type of information that is reported on a particular monitoring object. The Data Consumer is the layer of the architecture for displaying alerts and status data. The information collected by the various collection methods is passed to the data consumer through the monitoring architecture. The Performance Database represents a series of tables in the R/3 database that store the collected information and performance data.
Transaction SM51 provides an overview of available servers. You can use this transaction to: Examine the processes of the server you are logged on to Display the users of the system Display the system log Display the OS collector state Dynamically switch to another server Release Notes in this transaction show: R/3 kernel release R/3 release Database release OS release If you use the System Administration Assistant for your daily system checks, it provides you with direct access to rransaction SM51 .
Transaction SM04 provides an overview of users on a specific server. Transaction AL08 provides an overview of all the users in the R/3 System. If you use the System Administration Assistant for your daily system checks, it provides you with direct access to transaction SM04 . The user overview provides information about: User logged on to server (R/3 user name) Terminal at which the user is working. The terminal name corresponds: For a UNIX frontend, to the the display variable of the frontend process For a Windows or OS/2 frontend, to the host name on which the frontend was started Last executed R/3 transaction (transaction code) Time at which the user last initiated a dialog step by entering data Number of external sessions (R/3 sessions) that the user has opened (up to 6). To display detailed information on a user session, choose Sessions . Type of connection (GUI or RFC)
The Workload Monitor displays detailed information about the work processes on the different application servers. The information can be split up for different types of work processes and contains data such as: Average response time Average database request time Number of steps Roll-in and roll-out time Average wait time For more detailed information, investigate the following: Transactions or reports with the longest times Time profile Memory profile
The R/3 buffers store frequently used data, and make this data available to the local application server instance. This helps to reduce the number of database accesses, the load on the database server (it does not need to be accessed repeatedly to obtain the same information), and network traffic, thus improving system performance. The data buffered includes ABAP programs, screens, ABAP Dictionary data, and company-specific data, which typically remain unchanged during system operation. Transaction ST02 displays buffer statistics of all important R/3 buffers. Statistics displayed by this transaction include, for example: Hit ratio Allocated space Remaining free space Swaps Transaction ST02 displays the following R/3 buffers: nametab, program, CUA, screen, calendar, table For more detailed information, choose Detail Analysis Menu .
The database has a significant effect on the performance of the entire system. Therefore, transaction RZ20 provides alerts concerning the database system. The MTE Database provides information about space management, performance, backup and restore, and running jobs. Transaction ST04 is the standard tool for monitoring database behavior and performance and is used to analyze several alerts concerning performance issues in the alert monitor. T he R/3 Database Monitor (transaction ST04 ) displays the important parameters and performance indicators for the database, such as database size, database buffer quality, and database configuration. The R/3 Database Monitor also provides the date and time when the database was started. Before you analyze the information in the R/3 Database Monitor, we recommend that you run the database for several hours with a typical database workload. The Detail Analysis Menu of the SAP Database Monitor displays more detailed information on SQL requests, database parameters and change history, and statistics for analyzing database activity. If you use the System Administration Assistant for your daily system checks, it also provides you with direct access to the database transactions.