Multivac modernises machines for maximum efficiency

Multivac modernises machines for maximum efficiency
Date Posted: February 10, 2012 07:53 AM
Author: Seamus Quinn

German packaging equipment giant Multivac has installed two new Power 740s plus a pair of 720s in the latest part of an eight-year global SAP-on-i rollout.

After looking at Microsoft and AIX and deciding to keep the faith with IBM i, Multivac embarked on a migration to SAP in 2004. It started with SAP ERP 4.6c on an i825 for ten users. By 2007, it was running two i570s with SAP add-ons such Human Capital Management and NetWeaver Business Warehouse for around 1,000 users in 16 countries. In 2010, it added IBM System Storage DS5100 hardware and SAN Volume Controller software to the mix. Domino is also firmly embedded in the ever-expanding project and, notably, the whole set-up is managed by just a five-man IT team that now serves 24 countries.

Wolfertschwenden-based Multivac makes and sells packaging machines such as thermoformers, traysealers and vacuum-chamber machines. It is a massive name in food and medical equipment markets and employs more than 3,400 people at over 60 subsidiaries in 140 countries. Its new Power 740s, each with nine Power7 processors and 256 GB main memory, and two IBM Power 720 servers with four processors and 64 GB memory apiece, will help it continue the worldwide roll-out.

The new hardware came courtesy of Fritz & Macziol, part of the ever-expanding Netherlands-based technical services outfit Imtech. However, the Multivac team says there was no pressing capacity-related or technical need for the upgrade. Instead, its motivation was driven purely by the desire to reduce costs and optimise its infrastructure. For instance, unlike many upgrade projects, Multivac decided to implement pretty much the same processing capacity but take advantage of new licensing models. For its 740s, the company selected CPU-based licensing, while for the Power 720 machines it opted for user-based licensing.

At the end of the leases for its old gear, the company was obliged to return its servers and storage devices. This introduced something of a challenge, as Jürgen Dauner, IT team leader of system integration at Multivac, reports: "A big part of the upgrade to the Power7 technology was about logistics. We needed to store our old systems temporarily. Because we are talking about six tonnes of server, storage and backup hardware, this was quite a challenge."

To replace its old Power6 servers, Multivac set up a new 740 system in parallel, integrated it into its cluster solution and then transfered the workloads to the new box. "We migrated our main SAP systems to the new Power7 servers without interruption of the production applications," says Jürgen Dauner. "And half-an-hour later, all systems were back in normal operation on the new hardware."

Multivac uses dynamic LPARs for all its core applications (SAP Business Suite and IBM Lotus Notes) on four physical servers – three for production and one for development and testing systems. Each 740 runs four LPARs. In two LPARs, Multivac runs Virtual I/O Servers to ensure redundancy for the virtualisation layers; one LPAR hosts the company’s mission-critical SAP ERP and CRM applications. The final LPAR is configured to run its Notes and Domino environment.

The deployment takes a shared LPAR approach, where a number of LPARs share a given hardware environment of CPU and memory. Instead of a fixed assignment of CPU and memory resources, each shared LPAR is assigned a floating min/max entitlement and a priority rating. As long as sufficient hardware resources are available, all LPARs receive their maximum entitlement. In case of a shortage of resources, CPU and memory are automatically re-assigned, increased or reduced according to set priorities and minimum entitlements.

Multivac’s DR strategy is also based on LPAR. To prepare the server upgrade, Multivac moved from internal disk systems supported by an Enterprise Storage Server 6000 to a SAN solution with System Storage DS5100 disk systems and SAN Volume Controller.