UNIX SAS 9.4M8 Install: Rule of Thumb for SAS Sizing

[KimLeBouton]

Finally getting around to updating our AIX server from SAS 9.3M1 to SAS 9.4M8.

The last paragraph of page 9 (PDF version) of System Requirements for SAS 9.4 Foundation for AIX reads as follows:

SAS strongly recommends consulting with a SAS Sizing Expert to obtain an official hardware recommendation that is based on your estimated SAS workload and number of users. Disk space requirements are provided for individual components in separate documents. However, the space requirements that you can obtain from the individual System Requirements documents that are provided for SAS Solutions and other add-on products are not a substitution for expert advice. To request sizing expertise, send an email to contactcenter@sas.com .

After some excitement that this was a new way of obtaining the information without having to use the tables provided in previous releases, I sent an email to contactcenter@sas.com . In either a Comedy of Errors or a Tale of Woe, a technical support ticket was created from my email, but no requested space answer was put forth.

Thus, I’ve decided to return to the System Requirements for SAS 9.3 Foundation for AIX and the table that can be found on page 9 of the PDF version. Screen shot below.

I’m looking for a rule of thumb. Should I increase the requested space by 5%, 10%, etc…?

Thank you for any of your insights,

Kim LeBouton

[SASKiwi]

Is this an upgrade in-place or are you installing 9.4M8 on new servers? Organising a sizing review is best done via your SAS account manager in my experience. The screenshot you've provided only refers to space to install SAS software. It won't increase much for M8. You need to size other disk requirements as well like WORK and application data although what you are using now would be a good starting point.

Sizing also covers number of cores / CPUs and memory. Again what you have now is a good starting point. If you still have a lot of headroom with CPU and memory usage then there is no reason to increase these.  

[Kurt_Bremser]

If it‘s not a typo, the OP is going from 9.3 to 9.4, and this will make quite a difference.

[Quentin]

I don't know if the presentation covers AIX, but you may want to start with @MargaretC 's Ask The Expert on upgrading:

https://communities.sas.com/t5/Ask-the-Expert/Upgrading-to-the-Latest-Version-of-SAS-9-4-M8-Q-amp-A-...

[MargaretC]

@KimLeBouton I am happy to work with you on this.  Please reach out to me at Margaret.Crevar@sas.com