- Overview: What's a Mix?
- Real-World Low-Level Technology Stack Test Input and Mixes
- Testing and Tuning for Daily System Loads
- Testing and Tuning for Business Peaks
- Identifying Key Transactions and Business Processes
- Real-World Access Method Limitations
- Best Practices for Assembling Test Packages
- SAP Component and Other Cross-Application Test Mix Challenges
- Tools and Approaches
9.9 Tools and Approaches
Although there are few formal tools that help you analyze your input requirements, the approaches discussed throughout this chapter can save you time. I suggest that you document step-by-step processes (e.g., those pertaining to ST03 herein) specific to your TU, in effect documenting how you arrived at your determination that a particular set of input was both appropriate and adequate. Take a screen shot as well, and file this in your documentation repository. It may again prove useful as you iteratively execute various new tests, tune your system, and then return to testing.
Finally, take care not to assume too much when you find yourself implementing new SAP components or technology stacks because much of the documentation floating around is not necessarily applicable. For instance, with the advent of commodity 64-bit computing from Intel and AMD, there is a need for basic pagefile and OS memory/caching testing, along with database tuning as I described earlier in the chapter. This is the case because the rules are changing before our eyes, and the optimal configuration for some of these new platforms relevant to hosting high-performance SAP solutions has yet to be determined. So minimize your deployment and upgrade risks by testing and iteratively tuning early in the game and reap the rewards.