SAP HANA
Terms related to simplyblock
SAP HANA (High-Performance Analytic Appliance) is an in-memory, column-oriented, relational database management system developed by SAP. It’s designed to handle both high-volume transactional processing (OLTP) and complex analytical queries (OLAP) within the same platform. SAP HANA supports real-time analytics and data processing, enabling enterprises to accelerate decision-making and digital transformation initiatives.
How SAP HANA Works
SAP HANA operates primarily in-memory, which means data is stored in RAM rather than on disk. This architecture enables drastically faster data access and computation compared to traditional disk-based databases. By leveraging columnar storage and massively parallel processing (MPP), SAP HANA optimizes performance for analytics-heavy workloads.
Instead of maintaining separate OLTP and OLAP systems, SAP HANA provides a single unified platform. It executes advanced operations—such as aggregations, joins, or spatial calculations—directly in the database layer, reducing the need for application-level data processing.
Why Storage Infrastructure Matters for SAP HANA
SAP HANA is performance-sensitive. While it stores active data in-memory, persistent storage is required for durability, system restarts, backups, and logs. Storage must handle high IOPS, low latency, and support fast recovery. Simplyblock™ enhances SAP HANA performance through software-defined storage (SDS) using NVMe over TCP, which provides sub-millisecond latency and optimal throughput, even at scale.
Enterprises deploying SAP HANA in Kubernetes or hybrid environments require persistent volumes with fault tolerance, snapshotting, and multi-zone availability. Simplyblock’s CSI driver enables dynamic volume provisioning, integrating seamlessly with SAP HANA workloads on Kubernetes.
SAP HANA and NVMe over TCP
For SAP HANA to perform efficiently in high-throughput, hybrid workloads, storage subsystems must eliminate bottlenecks. NVMe over TCP enables ultra-low-latency communication without specialized RDMA hardware. Compared to legacy iSCSI or Fibre Channel solutions, NVMe/TCP provides:
- Reduced CPU overhead
- Higher parallelism for concurrent operations
- Better flash storage optimization
Simplyblock’s architecture ensures compatibility with SAP HANA’s I/O-intensive operations and supports scale-out requirements without sacrificing latency.
SAP HANA in Hybrid and Edge Environments
Modern enterprise SAP workloads are increasingly distributed across public cloud, private data centers, and edge locations. Using a unified storage architecture, SAP HANA can maintain high availability and performance across these environments. Simplyblock offers:
Hybrid deployment support
Run SAP HANA in the cloud or on-premises
Edge storage readiness
Optimized for air-gapped or latency-sensitive environments
Multi-tenancy
QoS and logical volume isolation for SAP landscapes
Storage Requirements for SAP HANA
SAP HANA relies on persistent storage for the following components:
- Data and log volumes: Write-ahead logs require high write IOPS and low latency.
- Backup volumes: SAP HANA supports full, delta, and log backups requiring fast, scalable targets.
- Shared storage: Needed in high-availability clusters using SAP HANA System Replication (HSR).
With advanced erasure coding, simplyblock reduces the capacity overhead of traditional 3x replication while maintaining the durability SAP HANA demands.
SAP HANA vs Traditional RDBMS for Real-Time Workloads
Below is a comparison of SAP HANA and traditional relational databases (e.g., Oracle, SQL Server):
| Feature | SAP HANA | Traditional RDBMS |
|---|---|---|
| Storage Model | In-memory, columnar | Disk-based, row-oriented |
| Performance | Real-time analytics and OLTP combined | Separate OLTP and OLAP systems |
| Data Processing | Executed inside database | Offloaded to app tier or BI tools |
| Scale-out Support | Native distributed support | Limited or external extensions |
| Storage Dependency | Requires high IOPS, low latency | Disk latency is acceptable |
SAP HANA Use Cases
SAP HANA is the backbone of many enterprise workloads requiring unified analytics and transaction processing. Common use cases include:
- Real-time ERP and S/4HANA
- Predictive analytics and ML pipelines
- Financial modeling and forecasting
- Inventory and supply chain optimization
When deployed on Kubernetes with persistent NVMe storage, SAP HANA gains elasticity, automation, and improved DevOps alignment.
Relevant Simplyblock™ Features for SAP HANA
SAP HANA benefits from these key features provided by simplyblock:
- Copy-on-write snapshots for zero-downtime backup and cloning
- Dynamic provisioning via CSI for seamless DevOps integration
- Erasure coding for cost-efficient high availability
- Multi-zone high availability in hybrid cloud
- End-to-end encryption for secure enterprise deployments
For further performance insights, see the LC performance report.
External Resources
- SAP HANA Overview – SAP
- SAP HANA Architecture – Wikipedia
- In-memory computing – Wikipedia
- SAP HANA System Replication
Questions and Answers
SAP HANA is an in-memory, column-oriented database built for real-time analytics and transactional workloads. It processes massive data volumes instantly, enabling use cases like financial reporting, supply chain visibility, and live business dashboards across industries.
SAP HANA is not natively Kubernetes-first, but containerized deployment is possible in controlled environments. For optimal performance and persistence, pairing it with Kubernetes-native NVMe storage can ensure fast I/O, low latency, and data durability.
SAP HANA is I/O intensive and benefits most from NVMe over TCP and software-defined storage. These options provide the throughput and consistency required for in-memory data refreshes, logging, and backups.
Yes, SAP HANA includes native data-at-rest encryption features. For stronger multi-layer security, especially in multi-tenant setups, integrate with storage-level encryption-at-rest to enhance compliance and safeguard against physical or unauthorized access.
Yes, SAP HANA supports horizontal scaling via distributed architecture and multi-host configurations. To maintain performance at scale, it should run on high-performance NVMe storage that supports rapid data access and efficient memory management.