SAP HANA from the Amazon Cloud: Secure and Reliable on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

[Former Member]

“SAP CEO Bill McDermott gets software group fit for the cloud,” was the title in the German magazine Computerwoche, summing up this year’s SAPPHIRE NOW, which ran from June 3 to 5 in Orlando, Florida. Following in the same vein was the presentation given at the SAP customer event by Peter Mauel and Steven Jones from Amazon Web Services (AWS). Here, the audience learned about the benefits of obtaining SAP HANA from the AWS cloud based on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

Customized Service Packages

“SAP, AWS, and SUSE Linux have been working together successfully since 2008. This has resulted in a range of customized service packages that provide customers with the necessary SAP applications as part of Linux-based leasing models,” explained Steven Jones, Senior Manager of Global Alliance Solutions Architecture at AWS. “Naturally, there are also specific offerings for SAP HANA users who want to leverage the benefits of AWS cloud services, such as reducing costs and complexity.” 

As Steven Jones explained, companies currently have three options for using the SAP HANA in-memory database on an AWS and SUSE Linux basis:

1. Infrastructure subscription: “Bring Your Own License”
   1. This means that although customers purchase the SAP HANA license directly from SAP, the implementation itself is in the AWS cloud. With this model, all SAP HANA use cases are supported, including SAP Business Suite and SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse on SAP HANA.
   2. Benefits:
      1. Immediate provisioning of SAP HANA licenses in the cloud
      2. No long-term capital tie-up for hardware resources
      3. Enterprise support
2. SAP HANA One
   1. Customers obtain SAP HANA applications entirely from the cloud. Support is provided for real-time analyses, data merging, temporary and event-based analyses, self-service BI, as well as pilot and test models.
   2. Benefits:
      1. Instant, self-service access – system up and running in 10 minutes
      2. Start and stop when needed, thus reducing license and infrastructure costs
      3. Community support
      4. On-demand SAP HANA license fees: USD 0.99 per hour
3. Offering for developers
   1. SAP offers developers a free AWS license for SAP HANA to help create a community that deals with all aspects of the high-speed database. The aim of this is to help customers put SAP HANA to the test and try out their first application scenarios.
   2. Benefits:
      1. Free SAP HANA developer licenses
      2. Easily accessible and rapidly deployable
      3. Pay-per-use AWS infrastructure costs

Maximum-Performance Computer Clusters in Use

“For SAP HANA, we use our biggest and most powerful computer clusters,” emphasized Peter Mauel, SAP Global Alliance Leader at AWS, at the SAPPHIRE NOW 2014 presentation. With SUSE Linux, AWS and SAP are making use of an operating system that ensures high availability, improved system performance, and cost savings in terms of operating the in-memory database. 

For more information: Youtube Video "Leveraging SUSE Linux to run SAP HANA on the AMAZON Web Services Cloud"