Network Load (Release 4.

0)
Created on: April 1998
R/3 Release:4.0
Table of Contents
Introduction
Estimating Network Traffic
Network Traffic in Different eleases
!omparing "enc#mark esults of eleases $.0 and 4.0
!alculating t#e %ine !apacit& for t#e Network Traffic
'reconditions
E(ample
Illustration of t#e Network %oad for 4.0
Introduction
)A' pro*ides t#is documentation for its customers+ partners and all parties interested in
initial network si,ing. As t#e si,ing of networks depends on t#e o*erall s&stem si,ing+ t#e
)A' #ardware partners and t#eir respecti*e competence centers -ear t#e responsi-ilit&.
sti!atin" Network Traffic
T#is paper contains researc# results on data traffic in t#e .$ )&stem. /irst+ we -riefl&
descri-e t#e communication -etween t#e presentation ser*er and t#e application ser*er in
a t#ree0tier model. T#en we will introduce a formula to calculate t#e line capacit& t#at is
needed for t#e network traffic. T#is formula relies on t#e results of standard -enc#marks
suc# as Sales and Distribution 1)D2+ Financials 1/I2 and Materials Management 1332.
Note t#at t#e -enc#marks onl& measure 45I traffic and e(clude local printing+ grap#ics
or t#e up0.download of office applications.
In general+ .$ is implemented t#roug# a t#ree0tier client0ser*er model. T#ree0tier .$
installations use *arious network components for t#e communication -etween
presentation and application ser*er on one #and and application and data-ase ser*er on
t#e ot#er. Two0tier .$ s&stems re6uire network communication -etween t#e presentation
frontend and t#e central instance.
In t#e t#ree0tier model+ data is transferred from t#e presentation ser*er to t#e application
ser*er *ia dialog steps 1screen c#anges2. During t#is process+ -etween 1+7 and 8+0 9"&tes
are transferred on a*erage. T#e line capacit& -etween t#e different la&ers depends on
numerous factors and s#ould -e at least 10 3-it.sec. /or configurations of medium or
large0scale scale+ )A' #ig#l& recommends a #ig# speed network 1e.g. /DDI 0 100
3-it.s2.
Network Traffic in #ifferent Releases
!omparing *arious releases of t#e )A' 45I 18.0+ 8.1+ 8.8+ $.0+ and 4.02+ we find two
factors t#at influence network traffic:
1. T#e amount of data transferred -etween t#e application and presentation ser*er
increases.
8. T#e compression logic for t#e 45I #as impro*ed.
T#erefore t#e network re6uirements for elease $.0 are -asicall& t#e same as for 8.1 and
8.8. !ustomers do not need to c#ange or upgrade t#eir e(isting %AN or ;AN networks to
use .$ elease $.0.
/or elease 4.0+ t#e num-er of transferred -&tes per dialog step is increased slig#t&. ;e
o-tained t#is data mainl& -& measuring t#e frame si,e in t#e %AN. During e*er& dialog
step+ t#e s&stem sends four packages of an a*erage of appro(imatel& 1+<00 "&te.
In t#e following figure &ou can see t#e c#anges in network traffic o*er t#e last releases.
Co!$arin" %enc&!ark Results of Releases 3.0 and 4.0
In )D+ t#e screens #a*e -een completel& redesigned. /or measurements+ we increased t#e
screen si,e -& 10= in order to a*oid furt#er dialog steps. Also+ new pull0down menus
added -etween $00 and 400 "&tes to t#e results.
/I #as increased its data t#roug#put -& 1$= mainl& due to t#e e(tended protocol for new
functions in 4.0.
In 33+ t#e data t#roug#put per screen #as not increased significantl&+ e*en t#oug# t#e
*aria-le )tep0%oop d&npros were replaced wit# t#e Ta-le !ontrol tec#ni6ue.
T#e increased network traffic &ou can see in t#e diagram is mainl& due to growing cross0
application functions and frontend le*el integration. 3ost of t#e integration options lie on
t#e ser*er side affecting t#e central ser*er %AN. No additional traffic is generated for t#e
compan& %AN. 5pgrading to elease 4.0 will presuma-l& not re6uire an upgrade of t#e
network.
Calculatin" t&e Line Ca$acit' for t&e
Network Traffic
T#e following formula can -e used to calculate t#e re6uired line capacit& for t#e network
traffic -etween t#e presentation and t#e application ser*er.
(reconditions
T#e num-er of users+ t#e line utili,ation+ t#e t#inktime and t#e response time are input
parameters for t#e formula. In order to ensure accepta-le network response times+ line
utili,ation s#ould not -e #ig#er t#an 70= also assuming t#at onl& )A' dialogs are
running on t#e network.
Definitions:
! > e6uired line capacit& measured in -it.sec
% > %ine utili,ation 10 ? % ? 12
TT#ink > T#inktime -etween two dialog steps
Tes > esponse Time
N > Total num-er of users wit# t#inktime TT#ink
and response time Tes

! > 1@.000 A N . B% A 1TT#ink C Tes2D -it.sec
T#e formula is -ased on measurements of t#e .$ /I+ 33 and )D )tandard Application
"enc#mark for elease 4.0.
T#e connection of t#e presentation frontend to t#e application ser*er can -e esta-lis#ed
using a %ocal Area Network 1%AN2 or a ;ide Area Network 1;AN2. All t#e different
network t&pes suc# as Et#ernet+ Token ing+ /DDI+ and AT3 can -e used.
;e recommend do not to use lines wit# capacit& less t#an 9+@00 -it.sec. E(perience
s#ows t#at working wit# t#e t#eoretical ma(imum leads to *er& Espik&F network traffic
and t#erefore to long response times+ -ecause t#e calculation a*erages co*er onl& a few
users and does not reflect real user -e#a*ior.
)a!$le
1. 17 users+ 10 sec t#inktime+ 8 sec response time
N > 17+ % > 0.7
C = 16,000 * 15 /[ 0.5 10 sec ! " sec#$ bit/sec = %0,000 bit/sec =&
6%,000 bit/sec line
8. $0 users+ $0 sec t#inktime+ 1 sec response time
N > $0+ % > 0.7
! > 1@+000 A $0 .B 0.7 1$0 sec C 1 sec2D -it.sec > $1+000 -it.sec >G @4+000
-it.sec line
Illustration of t&e Network Load for 4.0
T#e following figure illustrates t#e a*erage network load -etween presentation la&er and
application la&er and -etween application la&er and data-ase la&er.
*+( Tec&Net ,nowled"e %ase +rticle
To$ic: )&stem 3onitoring
*ubto$ic: ;orkload "alance
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