SAP's products focus on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). The company's main product is SAP ERP. The current version is SAP ERP 6.0 and is part of the SAP Business Suite. Its previous name was called R/3. The "R" of SAP R/3 stood for realtime - even though it is not a realtime solution. The number 3 related to the 3-tier architecture: database, application server and client (SAPgui). R/2, which ran on a Mainframe architecture, was the predecessor of R/3. Before R/2 came System RF, later dubbed R/1.
SAP ERP is one of five enterprise applications in SAP's Business Suite. The other four applications are:
* customer relationship management (CRM) - helps companies acquire and retain customers, gain marketing and customer insight
* product lifecycle management (PLM) - helps manufacturers with product-related information
* supply chain management (SCM) - helps companies with the process of resourcing its manufacturing and service processes
* supplier relationship management (SRM) - enables companies to procure from suppliers
Other major product offerings include: the NetWeaver platform, Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) solutions, Duet (joint offering with Microsoft), Performance Management solutions and RFID. SAP offers SOA capabilities (calling it Enterprise SOA) in the form of web services that are wrapped around its applications.
While its original products were typically used by Fortune 500 companies[citation needed], SAP is now also actively targeting small and medium sized enterprises (SME) with its SAP Business One and SAP Business All-in-One.
On 19 September 2007 SAP announced a new product named SAP Business ByDesign. SAP Business ByDesign is a Software as a Service (SaaS) offering, and provides a fully integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, On Demand. SAP Business ByDesign was previously known under the code name "A1S".[22]
SAP officials say there are over 100,600 SAP installations serving more than 41,200 companies in more than 25 industries in more than 120 countries.[23]
But SAP has also in general been criticized for their One-size-fits-all product strategies implying that it now covers such a large scope that it has become a hindrance for company mergers and acquisitions.[citation needed]
Monday, July 20, 2009
SAP History
SAP was founded in 1972 as Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung ("System Analysis and Program Development")[2] by five former IBM engineers in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg (Dietmar Hopp, Hans-Werner Hector, Hasso Plattner, Klaus E. Tschira, and Claus Wellenreuther).[3]
As part of the Xerox exit strategy from the computer industry, Xerox retained IBM to migrate their business systems to IBM technology. As part of IBM's compensation for the migration, IBM acquired the SDS/SAPE software, reportedly for a contract credit of $80,000. The SAPE software was given by IBM to the founding ex-IBM employees in exchange for founding stock provided to IBM, reportedly 8%. Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was SAP's first ever customer in 1972.[4]
The acronym was later changed to stand for Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung ("Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing").
In 1976, "SAP GmbH" was founded and the following year, it moved its headquarters to Walldorf. SAP AG became the company's official name after the 2005 annual general meeting (AG is short for Aktiengesellschaft).
In August 1988, SAP GmbH transferred into SAP AG (a corporation by German law), and public trading started November 4. Shares are listed on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchanges.[3]
Four of the founding members -- Hopp, Plattner, Tschira and Hector -- form the executive board. In 1995, SAP was included in the German stock index DAX. On 22 September 2003, SAP was included in the Dow Jones STOXX 50.[5] In 1991, Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann joined the board; Dr. Peter Zencke became a board member in 1993.[6] Claus Heinrich,[7] and Gerhard Oswald [8] have been members of the SAP Executive Board since 1996. Two years later, in 1998, the first change at the helm took place. Dietmar Hopp and Klaus Tschira moved to the supervisory board and Dietmar Hopp was appointed Chairman of the supervisory board. Henning Kagermann was appointed as Co-Chairman and CEO of SAP next to Hasso Plattner. Werner Brandt joined SAP in 2001 as a member of the SAP Executive Board and Chief Financial Officer.[9] Léo Apotheker has been a member of the SAP Executive Board and president of Global Customer Solutions & Operations since 2002, was appointed Deputy CEO in 2007, and then became co-CEO alongside Kagermann in 2008.
Henning Kagermann became the sole CEO of SAP in 2003.[10] In February 2007, his contract was extended until 2009. After continuous disputes over the responsibility of the development organization, Shai Agassi, a member of the executive board who had been named as a potential successor to Kagermann, left the organization.[11] In April 2008, along with the announcement of Leo Apotheker as co-CEO, the SAP supervisory board also appointed to the SAP Executive Board, three new members, effective 1 July 2008: Corporate Officers Erwin Gunst, Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe.[12]. With the retirement of Henning in May 2009, Leo has taken over as the sole CEO.
As part of the Xerox exit strategy from the computer industry, Xerox retained IBM to migrate their business systems to IBM technology. As part of IBM's compensation for the migration, IBM acquired the SDS/SAPE software, reportedly for a contract credit of $80,000. The SAPE software was given by IBM to the founding ex-IBM employees in exchange for founding stock provided to IBM, reportedly 8%. Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was SAP's first ever customer in 1972.[4]
The acronym was later changed to stand for Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung ("Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing").
In 1976, "SAP GmbH" was founded and the following year, it moved its headquarters to Walldorf. SAP AG became the company's official name after the 2005 annual general meeting (AG is short for Aktiengesellschaft).
In August 1988, SAP GmbH transferred into SAP AG (a corporation by German law), and public trading started November 4. Shares are listed on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchanges.[3]
Four of the founding members -- Hopp, Plattner, Tschira and Hector -- form the executive board. In 1995, SAP was included in the German stock index DAX. On 22 September 2003, SAP was included in the Dow Jones STOXX 50.[5] In 1991, Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann joined the board; Dr. Peter Zencke became a board member in 1993.[6] Claus Heinrich,[7] and Gerhard Oswald [8] have been members of the SAP Executive Board since 1996. Two years later, in 1998, the first change at the helm took place. Dietmar Hopp and Klaus Tschira moved to the supervisory board and Dietmar Hopp was appointed Chairman of the supervisory board. Henning Kagermann was appointed as Co-Chairman and CEO of SAP next to Hasso Plattner. Werner Brandt joined SAP in 2001 as a member of the SAP Executive Board and Chief Financial Officer.[9] Léo Apotheker has been a member of the SAP Executive Board and president of Global Customer Solutions & Operations since 2002, was appointed Deputy CEO in 2007, and then became co-CEO alongside Kagermann in 2008.
Henning Kagermann became the sole CEO of SAP in 2003.[10] In February 2007, his contract was extended until 2009. After continuous disputes over the responsibility of the development organization, Shai Agassi, a member of the executive board who had been named as a potential successor to Kagermann, left the organization.[11] In April 2008, along with the announcement of Leo Apotheker as co-CEO, the SAP supervisory board also appointed to the SAP Executive Board, three new members, effective 1 July 2008: Corporate Officers Erwin Gunst, Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe.[12]. With the retirement of Henning in May 2009, Leo has taken over as the sole CEO.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Storage sharing
Storage sharing
Historically, data centers first created "islands" of SCSI disk arrays. Each island was dedicated to an application, and visible as a number of "virtual hard drives" (i.e. LUNs). Essentially, a SAN connects storage islands together using a high-speed network, thus allowing all applications to access all disks.
Operating systems still view a SAN as a collection of LUNs, and usually maintain their own file systems on them. These local file systems, which cannot be shared among multiple operating systems/hosts, are the most reliable and most widely used. If two independent local file systems resided on a shared LUN, they would be unaware of this fact, would have no means of cache synchronization and eventually would corrupt each other. Thus, sharing data between computers through a SAN requires advanced solutions, such as SAN file systems or clustered computing. Despite such issues, SANs help to increase storage capacity utilization, since multiple servers share the storage space on the disk arrays. The common application of a SAN is for the use of transactionally accessed data that require high-speed block-level access to the hard drives such as email servers, databases, and high usage file servers.
In contrast, NAS allows many computers to access the same file system over the network and synchronizes their accesses. Lately, the introduction of NAS heads allowed easy conversion of SAN storage to NAS.
DAS vs NAS vs SAN
Organization
[edit] SAN-NAS hybrid
Despite the differences between NAS and SAN, it is possible to create solutions that include both technologies, as shown in the diagram.
Hybrid using DAS, NAS and SAN technologies.
Historically, data centers first created "islands" of SCSI disk arrays. Each island was dedicated to an application, and visible as a number of "virtual hard drives" (i.e. LUNs). Essentially, a SAN connects storage islands together using a high-speed network, thus allowing all applications to access all disks.
Operating systems still view a SAN as a collection of LUNs, and usually maintain their own file systems on them. These local file systems, which cannot be shared among multiple operating systems/hosts, are the most reliable and most widely used. If two independent local file systems resided on a shared LUN, they would be unaware of this fact, would have no means of cache synchronization and eventually would corrupt each other. Thus, sharing data between computers through a SAN requires advanced solutions, such as SAN file systems or clustered computing. Despite such issues, SANs help to increase storage capacity utilization, since multiple servers share the storage space on the disk arrays. The common application of a SAN is for the use of transactionally accessed data that require high-speed block-level access to the hard drives such as email servers, databases, and high usage file servers.
In contrast, NAS allows many computers to access the same file system over the network and synchronizes their accesses. Lately, the introduction of NAS heads allowed easy conversion of SAN storage to NAS.
DAS vs NAS vs SAN
Organization
[edit] SAN-NAS hybrid
Despite the differences between NAS and SAN, it is possible to create solutions that include both technologies, as shown in the diagram.
Hybrid using DAS, NAS and SAN technologies.
Network types
Network types
Most storage networks use the SCSI protocol for communication between servers and disk drive devices. They do not use SCSI low-level physical interface (e.g. cables), however, as its bus topology is unsuitable for networking. A mapping layer to other low-level protocols is used to form a network:
* ATA over Ethernet (AoE), mapping of ATA over Ethernet,
* Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP), the most prominent one, is mapping of SCSI over Fibre Channel (FC),
* Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE),
* mapping of FICON over FC, used by mainframe computers,
* HyperSCSI, mapping of SCSI over Ethernet,
* iFCP[1] or SANoIP[2] mapping of FCP over IP.
* iSCSI Extensions for RDMA (iSER), mapping of iSCSI over InfiniBand (IB),
* iSCSI, mapping of SCSI over TCP/IP
Most storage networks use the SCSI protocol for communication between servers and disk drive devices. They do not use SCSI low-level physical interface (e.g. cables), however, as its bus topology is unsuitable for networking. A mapping layer to other low-level protocols is used to form a network:
* ATA over Ethernet (AoE), mapping of ATA over Ethernet,
* Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP), the most prominent one, is mapping of SCSI over Fibre Channel (FC),
* Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE),
* mapping of FICON over FC, used by mainframe computers,
* HyperSCSI, mapping of SCSI over Ethernet,
* iFCP[1] or SANoIP[2] mapping of FCP over IP.
* iSCSI Extensions for RDMA (iSER), mapping of iSCSI over InfiniBand (IB),
* iSCSI, mapping of SCSI over TCP/IP
What is SAN?
storage area network (SAN) is an architecture to attach remote computer storage devices (such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes) to servers in such a way that the devices appear as locally attached to the operating system. Although the cost and complexity of SANs are dropping, they are still uncommon outside larger enterprises.
Network attached storage (NAS), in contrast to SAN, uses file-based protocols such as NFS or SMB/CIFS where it is clear that the storage is remote, and computers request a portion of an abstract file rather than a disk block.
Network attached storage (NAS), in contrast to SAN, uses file-based protocols such as NFS or SMB/CIFS where it is clear that the storage is remote, and computers request a portion of an abstract file rather than a disk block.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
IELTS Band Scale
Band Scale
IELTS is scored on a nine band scale, with each band corresponding to a specified competence in English.Overall Band Scores are reported to the nearest whole or half band.
For the avoidance of doubt, the following rounding convention applies; if the average across the four skills ends in .25, it is rounded up to the next half band, and if it ends in .75, it is rounded up to the next whole band.
The nine bands are described as follows:
[edit] 9 Expert User
Has full command of the language: appropriate, accurate and fluent with complete understanding. It is very hard to attain this score.
[edit] 8 Very Good User
Has fully operational command of the language with only occasional unsystematic inaccuracies and inappropriacies. Handles complex detailed argumentation well.
[edit] 7 Good User
Has operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies, inappropriateness and misunderstandings in some situations. Generally handles complex language well and understands detailed reasoning.
[edit] 6 Competent User
Has generally effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriacies and misunderstandings. Can use and understand fairly complex language, particularly in familiar situations.
[edit] 5 Modest User
Has a partial command of the language, coping with overall meaning in most situations, though is likely to make many mistakes. The candidate should be able to handle communication in his or her own field.
[edit] 4 Limited User
Basic competence is limited to familiar situations. Has frequent problems in using complex language.
[edit] 3 Extremely Limited User
Conveys and understands only general meaning in very familiar situations. Frequent breakdowns in communication occur.
[edit] 2 Intermittent User
No real communication is possible except for the most basic information using isolated words or short formulae in familiar situations and to meet immediate needs. Has great difficulty understanding spoken and written English.
[edit] 1 Non User
Essentially has no ability to use the language beyond possibly a few isolated words.
[edit] 0 Did not attempt the test
No assessable information provided.
IELTS is scored on a nine band scale, with each band corresponding to a specified competence in English.Overall Band Scores are reported to the nearest whole or half band.
For the avoidance of doubt, the following rounding convention applies; if the average across the four skills ends in .25, it is rounded up to the next half band, and if it ends in .75, it is rounded up to the next whole band.
The nine bands are described as follows:
[edit] 9 Expert User
Has full command of the language: appropriate, accurate and fluent with complete understanding. It is very hard to attain this score.
[edit] 8 Very Good User
Has fully operational command of the language with only occasional unsystematic inaccuracies and inappropriacies. Handles complex detailed argumentation well.
[edit] 7 Good User
Has operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies, inappropriateness and misunderstandings in some situations. Generally handles complex language well and understands detailed reasoning.
[edit] 6 Competent User
Has generally effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriacies and misunderstandings. Can use and understand fairly complex language, particularly in familiar situations.
[edit] 5 Modest User
Has a partial command of the language, coping with overall meaning in most situations, though is likely to make many mistakes. The candidate should be able to handle communication in his or her own field.
[edit] 4 Limited User
Basic competence is limited to familiar situations. Has frequent problems in using complex language.
[edit] 3 Extremely Limited User
Conveys and understands only general meaning in very familiar situations. Frequent breakdowns in communication occur.
[edit] 2 Intermittent User
No real communication is possible except for the most basic information using isolated words or short formulae in familiar situations and to meet immediate needs. Has great difficulty understanding spoken and written English.
[edit] 1 Non User
Essentially has no ability to use the language beyond possibly a few isolated words.
[edit] 0 Did not attempt the test
No assessable information provided.
IELTS Test Structure
IELTS Test Structure
All candidates must complete four Modules - Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking - to obtain a Band, which is shown on an IELTS Test Report Form (TRF). All candidates take the same Listening and Speaking Modules, while the Reading and Writing Modules differ depending on whether the candidate is taking the Academic or General Training Versions of the Test.
The total test duration is around 2 hours and 45 minutes for Listening, Reading and Writing modules.
Listening: 40 minutes, 30 minutes for which a recording is played centrally and additional 10 minutes for transferring answers onto the OMR answer sheet.
Reading: 60 minutes.
Writing: 60 minutes.
(n.b. No additional time is given for transfer of answers in Reading and Writing modules)
The first three modules - Listening, Reading and Writing (always in that order) - are completed in one day, and in fact are taken with no break in between. The Speaking Module may be taken, at the discretion of the test centre, in the period seven days before or after the other Modules.
The tests are designed to cover the full range of ability from non-user to expert user.
All candidates must complete four Modules - Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking - to obtain a Band, which is shown on an IELTS Test Report Form (TRF). All candidates take the same Listening and Speaking Modules, while the Reading and Writing Modules differ depending on whether the candidate is taking the Academic or General Training Versions of the Test.
The total test duration is around 2 hours and 45 minutes for Listening, Reading and Writing modules.
Listening: 40 minutes, 30 minutes for which a recording is played centrally and additional 10 minutes for transferring answers onto the OMR answer sheet.
Reading: 60 minutes.
Writing: 60 minutes.
(n.b. No additional time is given for transfer of answers in Reading and Writing modules)
The first three modules - Listening, Reading and Writing (always in that order) - are completed in one day, and in fact are taken with no break in between. The Speaking Module may be taken, at the discretion of the test centre, in the period seven days before or after the other Modules.
The tests are designed to cover the full range of ability from non-user to expert user.
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