SAP Note

386508 - Info: Use of automatic parallel processing

Component: CO-PC (Product Cost Controlling), Version: 7, Released On: 19.05.2020

Symptom
To improve the runtime of a transaction, you want to use the parallel processing. This SAP
Note describes the procedure and typical problems that can occur. It will be updated as
necessary.

Other Terms
Parallel processing performance SPTA SPTA_NEW KKPA

Solution
For detailed configuration instructions for parallel processing, see section 4 of the "CO-PC
Performance Tuning" workshop. This workshop can be found in SAPNet at the alias "CO-PC" (
http://service.sap.com/co-pc ) in the "Other Important Information" menu option. It is also
attached to this SAP Note (files WB410B_1.zip and WB410B_2.zip). Please note that the most
important comments are found in the slide notes, so you should download the slides in
section 4 to study the notes.

Below, the most frequent problems and questions are answered.

1. What does "parallel processing" mean and how does a transaction benefit from it?
"Parallel processing" means that the SAP system executes a certain transaction
simultaneously for different objects, rather than consecutively. Among other things,
this speeds up the execution of the transaction. However, it increases the load on the
SAP system.
2. When does a transaction not benefit from parallel processing?
If the performance problem is not caused by the large number of objects but by other
performance bottlenecks such as extremely long database accesses.
3. What should I check before I consider the use of parallel processing?
You should make sure that all performance SAP Notes in OSS for your transaction have
been maintained.
Check whether there are any expensive database accesses or extremely long runtimes for
objects. In general, these problems cannot be satisfactorily solved by means of
parallel processing. If you want to use parallel processing due to the high number of
objects, check whether you can reduce the number of objects by excluding old objects
that are no longer changed from processing. For example, for orders you can set the
status "Deletion Flag". As a result, these orders are no longer processed in period-
end closing.
You should check out the use of parallel processing only if all of these measures have
proven unsuccessful.
4. What options are there for executing a function in parallel processing?
In general, you can parallelize any business function by manually splitting it into
different jobs.
Example: You want to settle all plants in controlling area 1000. You can perform
parallel processing by generating a separate background job for execution for each
plant to be settled.
However, this method has the disadvantage of being tedious to apply, and manual
splitting is not always possible. Thus, for many of the functions of Cost Object
Controlling and Overhead Controlling, you have the option of executing parallel
processing automatically using the transaction.
5. How does (automatic) parallel processing work?
 Asynchronous Remote Function Calls (aRFCs) are executed as parallel processes from the
transaction or from the background job (main process). Each aFRC is executed in its
own work process and always in a dialog process, even if the function was started as
a background job. Each parallel process processes a small group of objects (for
example, settles 50 orders). Once the aRFC has processed its objects, it returns the
results and the main program triggers a new parallel process if there are still
objects to be processed.
The more dialog processes are available for parallel processing, the more parallel
processes can be executed at the same time, but the higher the utilization of a
server, too.
6. How do I determine whether (automatic) parallel processing is available for a certain
function, and how do I activate it?
If the field "Server Group" is available for a transaction in the dialog box for
background scheduling, parallel processing can be activated by entering a server
group.
If the "Parallel Processing" checkbox is available for a report, parallel processing
can be used. Once the checkbox has been activated, the "Server Group" field appears,
and you must enter a server group.
In addition, the release notes and online help contain information about the functions
for which parallel processing is available. 7. Where and how do I maintain the server
group?
Application servers (or, to be more precise, application instances) are assigned to a
server group using server group maintenance (transaction RZ12). If the server group is
used for parallel processing, all available dialog processes of the specified servers
are used for the execution of the parallel processors. The main process can be started
on any server, even if this is not included in the server group.
As of Release 4.5, you can use server group maintenance to maintain further parameters
that could be maintained only as profile parameters in earlier releases. Even though
you maintain the parameters per server group and application server, the maintained
value applies globally for the application server, so the setting made for the
application server also takes effect if parallel processing runs with another server
group that contains this application server. 8. Which profile parameters should be
taken into consideration for the configuration?
The profile parameter rdisp/rfc_min_wait_dia_wp (can also be maintained
via "Minimum Number of Free WPs" in server group maintenance as of
Release 4.5) specifies how many free dialog processes, so dialog
processes that are not currently used by other users, may not be used
by parallel processing. The total number of available dialog processes
for parallel processing on a server is therefore calculated as:
<number of dialog processes> - <occupied dialog processes>
- <Minimum Number of Free WPs>
The profile parameter rdisp/max_wprun_time controls the runtime after
which a dialog process is terminated with a TIME_OUT runtime error. Even
though the parallel processes process relatively small data volumes,
they can run for longer than a typical dialog application. For servers
that are used for parallel processing, the value of this parameter
should therefore be set to around 3600, which corresponds to a maximum
runtime of one hour.
The profile parameters that control the memory configuration for dialog
processes might need to be configured so that more memory is available
to the parallel processes, since their memory consumption is typically
higher than that of a dialog application.
As of SAP Kernel Release 7.40 SP2, changes that also affect the two profile parameters
rdisp/rfc_min_wait_dia_wp and rdisp/max_wprun_time have been made in the dispatcher and
taskhandler components. Instead of rdisp/rfc_min_wait_dia_wp, the profile parameters
rdisp/scheduler/prio_low/max_quota (for low prio) and
rdisp/scheduler/prio_normal/max_quota (for normal prio) or rdisp/rfc_max_own_used_wp
can be used.
For example, in a system, a maximum of 10 of 50 dialog processes should be used for parallel
processing. This can be achieved by making the following settings:

a.) rdisp/scheduler/prio_low/max_quota = 20%

rdisp/scheduler/prio_normal/max_quota = 20%

b.) rdisp/rfc_max_own_used_wp = 20%

 a.) refers to the total of all BTCs and their RFC processes and b.) refers only to one BTC.
For more information about this, see SAP Note 2001276 - "Changed configuration as of 7.40 SP2".
7. During the execution of a function with parallel processing, I receive error message
RK006 or SPTA006. What does this error mean and what can I do to prevent it from
occurring?
Message RK006 or SPTA006 means that a parallel process was terminated prematurely due
to a runtime error, for example. However, the main process is not terminated. Instead,
it merely receives an error message about the termination, which it writes to the
system log.
Most of the functions that use parallel processing are programmed so that they try to
repeat the execution of the terminated parallel process in that each object of the
terminated process is executed in its own parallel process. If a repeat of this kind
is not possible or if this again results in a termination (and thus message RK006 or
SPTA006 in the system log), the application writes this to its application message
log.
If you find these messages in the system log, first check whether there are short
dumps for this application. The following types of short dump indicate configuration
errors in parallel processing:
Runtime error TIME_OUT: The value of the parameter rdisp/max_wprun_time is too
small (see above).
All runtime errors that indicate too little available memory, for example
SYSTEM_NO_TASK_STORAGE or TSV_TNEW_PAGE_ALLOC_FAILED: If insufficient memory is
available for each dialog process, increase the available memory for each dialog
process. If there is no longer sufficient memory available on the application
server, reduce the number of parallel processes on this server by increasing the
value of the parameter rdisp/rfc_min_wait_dia_wp.
In the case of other runtime errors, please look in OSS for SAP Notes about the
runtime error in question.
8. How many dialog processes should I provide for parallel processing?
This depends on the degree of performance improvement that you want to reach.
Typically, 5 to 10 dialog processes are sufficient to achieve a significant
improvement in the runtime.
9. How should I distribute the dialog processes that I want to use for parallel
processing to the individual application servers?
Because a range of configuration changes are required for parallel processing, such as
profile parameter changes, we recommend that you only reconfigure one or two
application servers for parallel processing and lock these to dialog users during
parallel processing. If only 5 to 10 dialog processes are required, a single
application server is sometimes sufficient if this is powerful enough (for example, if
it has 4 CPUs) and has enough main memory.

Manual Activities

Attributes
Key Value

Other Components CO-PC-OBJ (Cost Object Controlling)

Other Components FI-AA-AA-E (Periodic Posting)

Other Components CO-OM-OPA (Overhead Orders)

Other Components BC-SRV-BSF-PAR (Parallel Processing Tool)

This document refers to

SAP Note/KBA Component Title

74141 BC-CST-DP Resource Management for tRFC and aRFC

660360 IS-ADEC-MEB Performance improvements for creating and assigning orders

420077

397799 CO-OM-OPA INFORMATION: CO-OM-OPA (Order & Project Accounting)

393686 CO-PC-OBJ INFO: CO-PC-OBJ (Performance)

2001276 BC-CST-DP Changed configuration as of 7.40 SP2

183910 FI-AA Differences RAPOST00 / RABUCH00

1043139 IS-OIL-PRA-REV-CW PRA Checkwrite Parallel processing

1035678

1029382 FI-GL-BA F.5D runtime: Server group for parallel processing

This document is referenced by

SAP Note/KBA Component Title

2205623 Error SPTA004 occurs in job with parallel processing

1580830 CO-PC-OBJ Bad performance in CO88 settlement transaction

2061868 CO-PC-ACT Low performance in CKMLCP ML period closing

2150523 CO-PC-PCP CK40N performance problems - collective information

1743345 CO-PC-ACT CKMLMV037 occurs in CKMLCP

2592005 SV-PERF Cost Object jobs scheduled for Parallel processing start with less processes than planned

2162901 CO-PC-OBJ KKAJ low performance

2484122 FI-AA-AA-E AAPO502 and AA765 error executing AFAB / RAPOST2000

2140605 CO-OM-OPA Poor performance in transaction CJ88 and or CJ8G

1029382 CO-OM F.5D runtime: Server group for parallel processing

393686 CO-PC-OBJ INFO: CO-PC-OBJ (Performance)

74141 BC-CST-DP Resource Management for tRFC and aRFC

1043139 IS-OIL-PRA-REV-CW PRA Checkwrite Parallel processing

398639 CO-PC-OBJ Composite SAP Note: Overhead calculation

397799 CO-OM-OPA INFORMATION: CO-OM-OPA (Order & Project Accounting)

660360 IS-ADEC-MEB Performance improvements for creating and assigning orders

183910 FI-AA Differences RAPOST00 / RABUCH00

Attachments
File Name File Size Mime Type

WB410B_1.zip 833 application/x-zip-compressed

WB410B_2.zip 1326 application/x-zip-compressed