# 18 – Evaluate SAP compute resources for cost efficiency
**How do you assess compute and storage options for your SAP workloads?** When implementing or migrating SAP to AWS, you should select cost-effective EC2 instances and storage solutions for the SAP workload to meet your cost targets.
[\[See the AWS documentation website for more details\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/sap-lens/design-principle-18.html)
# Best Practice 18.1 – Understand the payment and commitment options available for Amazon EC2
Consider the use of Reserved Instances and Savings Plans to provide a significant discount compared to on-demand pricing. They are available with 1-year and 3-year commitment terms with three payment options: All Upfront, Partial Upfront, and No Upfront.
**Suggestion 18.1.1 – Understand the breakeven points between pricing models**
[Reserved Instances](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/reserved-instances-types.html) are categorized into Standard Reserved Instances (up to 72% discount off on-demand rates) and Convertible Reserved Instances (up to 54% discount off on-demand rates). [Savings Plans](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/savingsplans/latest/userguide/what-is-savings-plans.html#plan-types) are categorized into Compute Savings Plans (up to 66% discount off on-demand rates) and EC2 Instance Savings Plans (up to 72% discount off on-demand rates).
The discount off the Amazon EC2 on-demand hourly rate you can achieve will depend on the following factors:
+ Commitment term selected
+ Payment option selected
+ Reserved Instance or Savings Plan type selected
+ Instance family
Memory-optimized instance families, such as `X2`, `X1`, and `X1e`, provide higher savings for commitment. Therefore, understanding pricing options is important for SAP, particularly for SAP HANA workloads.
Use the advanced option within the AWS Pricing Calculator to determine the break-even point. You should be aware of the assumptions used by this calculator. To illustrate this, consider the example where we use the following formula to determine the point using a Reserved Instance or Savings Plan will provide a lower TCO than using on-demand for each instance family.
*(Effective Hourly rate of Commitment / Hourly rate of On-Demand) \$1 730 hours*
Reference the effective hourly rate for each [RI commitment term and type](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/reserved-instances/pricing/) and for each [Savings Plan commitment period and type](https://aws.amazon.com/savingsplans/pricing/). Compare and contrast the following examples illustrating different break-even points:
*Example 1: In North Virginia (us-east-1), for the M5 family, the breakeven where a 3 year no upfront Standard Reserved Instance or EC2 Savings Plan would offer a lower TCO is 315 hours per month (\$116 hrs a day, Monday to Friday).*
*Example 2: In North Virginia (us-east-1), for the X1 instance family, the breakeven where a 3 year no upfront Standard Reserved Instance or EC2 Savings Plan would offer a lower TCO is 235 hours per month (\$112 hrs a day, Monday to Friday).*
Use comprehensive guidance on [cost management](https://aws.amazon.com/aws-cost-management/) and the Well-Architected Framework [Cost Optimization Pillar](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/cost-optimization-pillar/welcome.html). The following [SAP on AWS Pricing Guide](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sap/latest/general/sap-on-aws-pricing-guide.html) also provides guidance specific to SAP workloads running on AWS. When analyzing costs, be aware that all AWS pricing (with the exception of the AWS China Regions) is in US dollars (USD). However, it is possible to select an alternative currency for payment: [currencies AWS currently supports](https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/knowledge-center/supported-aws-currencies/).
+ AWS Documentation: [Savings Plans - Compute Savings Plans and Reserved Instances](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/savingsplans/latest/userguide/what-is-savings-plans.html#sp-ris)
+ AWS Documentation: [Savings Plans - Plan Types](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/savingsplans/latest/userguide/what-is-savings-plans.html#plan-types)
+ AWS Documentation: [Types of Reserved Instances](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/reserved-instances-types.html)
**Suggestion 18.1.2 – Understand the considerations of each pricing model relevant to SAP**
In addition to the hourly rate discount, there are other benefits of Reserved Instances and Savings Plans you should consider. This AWS Documentation: [Comparing Savings Plans to RIs table](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/savingsplans/latest/userguide/what-is-savings-plans.html#sp-ris) provides a comparison of Reserved Instances and Savings Plans.
[Zonal Reserved Instances](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/reserved-instances-scope.html) can be used to provide capacity reservations within a specific Availability Zone. Savings Plans do not provide a capacity reservation but you can combine with [On-demand Capacity Reservations](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ec2-capacity-reservations.html) to provide the same features of a Zonal Reserved Instance. See [Reliability]: [Best Practice 10.2 - Select an architecture suitable for your availability and capacity requirements](best-practice-10-2.md), for further information on capacity strategies.
[Amazon EC2 Spot Instances](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/spot) let you take advantage of unused EC2 capacity in the AWS Cloud. Spot Instances are available at up to a 90% discount compared to On-Demand Instance prices. Spot Instances can be reclaimed by AWS with two-minutes notice when AWS requires the capacity. Therefore, Spot Instances are not generally suited for running SAP workloads.
When using [on-demand instances](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ec2-on-demand-instances.html), you should consider the additional operational impact of stopping and starting the SAP systems and underlying EC2 instances based on the required operating hours in addition to application performance impact each time the system is started.
**Suggestion 18.1.3 – Evaluate your enterprise strategy for consolidated billing and sharing of Reserved Instance and Savings Plans commitment**
With [Consolidated Billing](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/awsaccountbilling/latest/aboutv2/consolidated-billing.html), Reserved Instances and Savings Plans are applied to usage across all accounts within an AWS Organization. The management account of an organization can turn off the Reserved Instance discount and Savings Plans discount sharing for any accounts in that organization, including the management account. This means that Reserved Instances and Savings Plans discounts aren't shared between any accounts that have sharing turned off. To share a Reserved Instances or Savings Plans discount with an account, both accounts must have sharing turned on. This preference isn't permanent, and you can change it at any time.
+ AWS Documentation: [Consolidated billing for AWS Organizations](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/awsaccountbilling/latest/aboutv2/consolidated-billing.html)
+ AWS Documentation: [Turning off reserved instances and Savings Plans discount sharing](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/awsaccountbilling/latest/aboutv2/ri-turn-off.html)
A key factor that will determine your strategy for sharing of commitment will be the overall [AWS account strategy](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/latest/organizing-your-aws-environment/organizing-your-aws-environment.html) your organization has adopted. Whether your SAP workloads are running in their own dedicated AWS accounts or along with other workloads hosted in AWS should also be considered. To understand how discounts for Reserved Instances and Savings Plans are applied across your organization’s consolidated bill refer to:
+ AWS Documentation: [Understanding Consolidated Bills](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/awsaccountbilling/latest/aboutv2/con-bill-blended-rates.html#Instance_Reservations)
As detailed in SAP note: [1656250 - SAP on AWS: Support prerequisites](https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/1656250) [Requires SAP Portal Access], SAP on AWS is only supported if a fee-based [Support agreement](https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/) (Business support or higher) is in place. Determine the appropriate support plan based on cost and requirements.
+ AWS Documentation: [Compare Support Plans](https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/plans/)
Be aware that AWS calculates support fees independently for each member account within an organization.
# Best Practice 18.2 – Use cost as a key consideration for EC2 instance selection
By selecting the appropriate SAP Certified EC2 instances for your workload, it is possible to optimize for cost. Perform a thorough analysis of each system, ensuring that decisions are data driven where possible. Generic guidance can be found in the Well-Architected Framework [Cost Optimization Pillar - Cost-Effective Resources](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/framework/a-cost-effective-resources.html).
**Suggestion 18.2.1 – Select the latest generation instances available within your Region**
The latest generation of Amazon EC2 instances often offers the lowest cost with better performance and should be used if available and certified for the deployment scenario.
+ AWS Documentation: [Amazon EC2 Instance Types for SAP](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sap/latest/general/ec2-instance-types-sap.html) (includes how to check for instance type availability)
**Note**
Some Amazon EC2 instance families (for example `X1` and High Memory) might not be available across all Availability Zones within a Region. During planning, confirm that the instance types you require for your SAP workload are available in your target Availability Zones.
**Suggestion 18.2.2 – Balance cost with performance requirements**
Each SAP supported Amazon EC2 instance family will provide specific performance measured in [SAPS](https://www.sap.com/about/benchmark/measuring.html#:~:text=SAP%20Application%20Performance%20Standard%20(SAPS)%20is%20a%20hardware%2Dindependent,order%20line%20items%20per%20hour.). You should evaluate each instance family based on your performance requirements. An understanding of the cost per SAPS and cost per GiB ratios is recommended.
[\[See the AWS documentation website for more details\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/sap-lens/best-practice-18-2.html)
If a workload component requires more memory over [SAPS](https://www.sap.com/about/benchmark/measuring.html#:~:text=SAP%20Application%20Performance%20Standard%20(SAPS)%20is%20a%20hardware%2Dindependent,order%20line%20items%20per%20hour.) (CPU), you should select the instance family that provides the lowest cost per GiB memory. If the component requires more SAPS (CPU) over memory, you should select the instance family that provides the lowest cost per SAPS.
SAP Certified instance families powered by an AMD processor typically provide a 10% cost saving over the comparable Intel-based EC2. For example, the `C5a` is 10% lower cost than the `C5` family for the same performance KPIs.
For non-production SAP HANA workloads consider using one of the instance families that meets the requirements detailed in SAP Note: [2271345 - Cost-Optimized SAP HANA Hardware for Non-Production Usage](https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2271345) [Requires SAP Portal Access].
**Suggestion 18.2.3 – Review the predictability of your growth profile and peak capacity requirements**
An existing SAP landscape on AWS or a homogeneous migration is likely to have more predictable growth and usage patterns than a new greenfield implementation or heterogeneous migration.
For systems where you lack data on historical growth, you should consider the cost benefits of selecting an EC2 instance size sufficient for the short or medium term growth. Plan to scale the instance size as your requirement changes. You should ensure that your architecture design provides the flexibility to move between different EC2 instance families as your resource consumption changes.
Similarly, you should evaluate that changes to peak capacity have been accounted for.
When sizing an SAP HANA environment consider not only the database size but also the working memory requirement. Consult SAP HANA sizing reports and tools to estimate your size and usage.
**Suggestion 18.2.4 – Consider instance commitment flexibility**
When a component (for example, SAP HANA database) needs to scale up during the commitment period, evaluate if this will result in moving to a different instance family. This will impact your pricing model selection.
+ AWS Documentation: [Amazon EC2 Instance Types](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/instance-types/)
# Best Practice 18.3 – Evaluate licensing impact and optimization options
When moving SAP workloads to AWS, there might be commercial impacts with the software licenses your SAP workloads require. You should understand these impacts and the options available to you.
**Disclaimer**
Any discussion of Database licensing policies in this document is for informational purposes only and is based on the information available at the time of publication. For more specific information, users should consult their own license agreements with the specific Database Vendor.
**Suggestion 18.3.1 – Understand the impact of CPU and memory on software license**
Evaluate the different vCPU and memory ratios available with the supported [Amazon EC2 Instance Types](https://aws.amazon.com/sap/instance-types/) for SAP to optimize license costs.
+ SAP Documentation: [SAP HANA Allocated Memory Pools and Allocation Limits](https://help.sap.com/viewer/6b94445c94ae495c83a19646e7c3fd56/2.0.05/en-US/bd43f1c0bb571014bf5acf22f379fd3d.html)
For Oracle based environments, review:
+ [Oracle License Considerations, Licensing Oracle Software in the Cloud Computing Environment](http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/pricing/cloud-licensing-070579.pdf)
+ Oracle Premium Support requirements detailed in SAP Note: [2069760 - Oracle Linux 7.x SAP Installation and Upgrade](https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2069760) [Requires SAP Portal Access]
For Microsoft Windows and SQL Server environments, review:
+ AWS Documentation: [Microsoft Licensing on AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/windows/resources/licensing/)
+ SAP Note: [2139358 - Effect of changes in licensing terms of SQL Server](https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2139358) [Requires SAP Portal Access]
For IBM Db2 environments, review:
+ [Eligible Public Cloud BYOSL Policy](https://www.ibm.com/software/passportadvantage/eligible_public_cloud_BYOSL_policy.html)
+ AWS Documentation: [Track IBM license usage with AWS License Manager](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/mt/track-ibm-license-usage-with-aws-license-manager/)
Understand the impact for ISV and third-party products licensed by CPU or memory:
+ Consider the use of the [Optimize CPU](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/instance-optimize-cpu.html) feature to optimize license costs
+ Consider the use of [AWS License Manager](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/license-manager/latest/userguide/license-manager.html) to manage your software licenses and associated costs
+ AWS Documentation: [Physical Cores by Amazon EC2 Instance Type](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/physicalcores/)
**Suggestion 18.3.2 – Understand operating system purchasing options**
For each of the SAP supported operating systems, there is a set of purchasing options available.
1. Amazon EC2 provided license
1. AWS Marketplace provided license
1. Bring your own licenses (BYOL)
Not all options are available for each operating system. You should evaluate your requirements and licensing agreements to determine which option is the most cost effective. You can include the costs of the following operating systems as part of the Amazon EC2 cost:
+ Windows Server
+ Red Hat Enterprise Linux
+ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
You can purchase the following operating systems via the AWS Marketplace:
+ Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP (based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux base EC2 cost)
+ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP (based on Amazon Linux base EC2 cost)
You use bring your own licenses (BYOL) for the following operating systems:
+ Windows Server
+ Red Hat Enterprise Linux1
+ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
+ Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP2
+ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP2
+ Oracle Enterprise Linux (Oracle Premium Support requirements are detailed in SAP Note: [2069760 - Oracle Linux 7.x SAP Installation and Upgrade](https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2069760) ) [Requires SAP Portal Access]
1 Consider SAP Note: [2871484 - SAP supported variants of Red Hat Enterprise Linux](https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/0002871484) [Requires SAP Portal Access] as SAP no longer supports standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux for any SAP workloads as of RHEL 8.
2 These products have a longer term support which might reduce your operational costs for upgrades – see SUSE Documentation: [SUSE Enterprise Support Policy](https://www.suse.com/support/policy-products/) and Red Hat Documentation: [Red Hat Enterprise Support Policy](https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata/#Long_Support) for more details.
**Suggestion 18.3.3 – Consider the use of Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts to mitigate licensing restrictions**
Amazon EC2 offers Dedicated Hosts, which allow you to access hardware that's fully dedicated for your use. You can use [your own licensed software](https://aws.amazon.com/windows/resources/licensing/#Bring_existing_licenses_to_Dedicated_Hosts) on dedicated infrastructure. Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts integrate with [AWS License Manager](https://aws.amazon.com/license-manager/), a service which helps you manage your software licenses, including Windows Server and SQL Server licenses.
**Suggestion 18.3.4 – Evaluate the cost benefits of moving away from a per gigabyte or per core licensing model**
As part of your migration to cloud, consider use of the SAP Runtime database licensing model.
SAP provides the ability for customers to license SAP HANA, SAP ASE and third-party databases under their Runtime database license model. Runtime databases licensed from SAP are solely to support software and SAP named users licensed from SAP. Runtime databases from SAP are licensed as a percentage of the SAP software fee, commonly referred to as the SAP Application Value (SAV).
Runtime licenses are not based on number of gigabytes of memory or CPU cores and therefore can provide a cost benefit over per gigabyte or per core licensing models, particularly when you have multiple non-production systems, as the SAP Runtime database license applies to all environments covered under your SAP license agreement.
If you already have the right to use the SAP HANA Database Runtime license within your SAP license agreement, you should determine if you additionally have the right to use the SAP ASE Database Runtime license for SAP components that cannot use SAP HANA as the underlying database or to reduce the infrastructure costs associated with using SAP HANA for that component.
+ Refer to the SAP Documentation: [SAP Product Use and Support Guide](https://www.sap.com/uk/about/trust-center/agreements/on-premise/product-use-and-support-terms.html?sort=latest_desc&tag=agreements:product-use-support-terms/on-premise-software/software-use-rights), or consult with your SAP account team
# Best Practice 18.4 – Evaluate the cost impact of storage options based on the required characteristics
Select from object storage, file storage, and block storage services to host, archive, and secure your SAP system. Design your storage to reduce cost and increase agility.
**Suggestion 18.4.1 – Evaluate the most cost-effective way to design for the I/O and throughput requirements of your workload**
For most SAP requirements, solid state drives (SSDs) are recommended for your EBS volumes. To ensure a flexible, cost-effective selection, we recommend starting with the General Purpose Amazon EBS type `gp3`, if supported by the instance family. Over time, review the usage using CloudWatch metrics and application/database monitoring. If higher durability or I/O rates greater than 16,000 per volume are required, consider the Provisioned IOPS Amazon EBS type.
+ AWS Documentation: [Amazon EBS volume types](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ebs-volume-types.html)
To balance cost and performance considerations, the storage configuration used for SAP HANA data and log volumes should meet the SAP storage KPI. The storage layouts outlined in the following document have been tested for the SAP TDI guidelines: [SAP HANA Tailored Data Center Integration](https://www.sap.com/documents/2016/05/e8705aae-717c-0010-82c7-eda71af511fa.html)
+ AWS Documentation: [Storage Configuration for SAP HANA](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sap/latest/sap-hana/hana-ops-storage-config.html)
**Suggestion 18.4.2 – Plan for dynamic changes to storage size and configuration**
Optimize storage costs by right sizing storage according to data usage or IOPS requirements.
Extend volume size dynamically as required. Evaluate the option of changing volume types during activities that require increased performance such as application upgrades.
+ AWS Documentation: [Requesting Volume Modifications](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/requesting-ebs-volume-modifications.html)
Ensure all orphaned or unused volumes are reviewed regularly to ensure cost control.
+ AWS Documentation: [List Amazon EBS volume or snapshot information](https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/knowledge-center/ebs-volume-snapshot-ec2-instance/)
**Suggestion 18.4.3 – Evaluate the cost benefits for object storage**
The core data for an SAP system is contained within the database and resides on Amazon EBS. Amazon S3 can provide low-cost object storage for auxiliary data, such as backups or archives and large objects such as images or documents. Cost can be further optimized by selecting the appropriate [storage type](https://aws.amazon.com/s3/) for your retention and durability needs.
**Suggestion 18.4.4 – Evaluate the cost benefits for shared file systems**
Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) provides a serverless, set-and-forget, elastic file system that lets you share file data without provisioning or managing storage. Cost can be further optimized by selecting the appropriate storage class based on your performance and availability requirement.
Amazon FSx provides a fully managed highly available and durable file storage solution built on Windows Server. Data deduplication allows you to optimize costs even further by removing redundant data.
Common SAP use cases for Amazon EFS or Amazon FSx include `sapmnt`, transports, interface files, storing backups, and software. Use of Amazon EFS or Amazon FSx can provide cost benefits over deploying your own highly available NFS solution.
+ AWS Documentation: [Amazon EFS](https://aws.amazon.com/efs/)
+ AWS Documentation: [Amazon FSx](https://aws.amazon.com/fsx/)