SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 02 – SPS Update

[sharyusarode]

SAP has recently released HANA 2.0 SPS02 with some exciting enhancements, the intent of the blog is to document the update from HANA 2.0 SPS01 to SPS02

Although the process is not so different from a typical revision update or the HANA 2.0 upgrade (as per my previous weblog) - there are certain pre-requisites that need to be considered before performing the update. For example, the Operating System release and patches must be at a minimum required level. So as always, please ensure you allow time to properly absorb the latest SAP Release notes.

From HANA 2.0 SPS02, SAP has changed the maintenance strategy whereby New Capabilities and Enhancements are introduced once a year in form of SAP HANA Support Package Stacks (SPS) - normally at the beginning of April.

Although SAP HANA maintenance revisions will still be provided for the particular SPS on demand, but this includes only major bug fixes. SAP still recommends the implementation of highest SAP HANA Revision to benefit from incremental but non-disruptive improvements.

The following technical improvements have been provided with SPS02:-

• New feature introduced for updating of SAP HANA Components - Some components can be updated without the need for a database restart and system downtime. It is very exciting form a system administrator’s perspective to see Zero Downtime Maintenance for my HANA DB updates!


• Improved High Availability and Disaster Recovery:-


• - > Improvement in Active/Active (read enabled) system replication allowing read only                    access to the secondary site for both column and row store tables


• - > Allows copy/move of tenants to and from an MDC system while system replication is still          running


• Improved administration and monitoring activities in HANA Cockpit SP03. My favourite improvements include:-


• - > One click Data encryption!


• - > DB Copy using backup and recovery


• - > Offline Administration of HANA Database

 

1. Essential pre-reading

 2460914 - SAP HANA Platform 2.0 SPS 02 Release Note

1948334 - SAP HANA Database Update Paths for SAP HANA Maintenance Revisions

2380229 - SAP HANA Platform 2.0 – Central Note

2235581 - SAP HANA: Supported Operating Systems

2462387 - SAP HANA cockpit 2.0 SP 03

2455582 - Linux: Running SAP applications compiled with GCC 6.x

 

2. Pre-requisites

Cleanly shut down the SAP system first and ensure there is a successful backup of HANA DB with configuration files.

 

3. Process

Run HDBLCM (SAP HANA DB Lifecycle Management) remembering to closely check the log file for any errors.



 

4. Post Processing

Update the HDB client on all SAP Application Servers and re-start the SAP system.

Verify settings and logs in DBACockpit



 

5. Update HANA Cockpit to SP03 latest patch

I am looking forward to the day where the HANA Cockpit is the only tool for administration and monitoring of the HANA database. Currently it is too cumbersome to switch between the HANA Studio and the Cockpit. For now, there is still some functionality in the HANA Studio which needs to be made available in HANA Cockpit.

How to use the cockpit to administer SAP HANA, refer to SAP HANA Administration Guide

New Features in Cockpit:

• Data Encryption simplified with easy accessibility from Cockpit with simple ON/OFF Switch.

• Copy Database: Using SAP HANA cockpit, you can create a copy of an SAP HANA database by using backups of that database to recover to the same system or a different system

• Manage Database now has additional capabilities. For a selected tenant, you can now:

-> Set limits for memory allocation and for CPU cores





-> Enable or disable auto-restart

• Resource Registration: You can now import and export resources.

• Administering Offline Resources: With SP 03, the SAP HANA cockpit includes all capabilities that could formerly be performed only through the SAP HANA cockpit for offline administration

 

In summary, I believe the eye-candy offered by the HANA Cockpit has now begun to mature. As an SAP Administrator with limited time (and patience) it’s good to see I am being rewarded as an early adopter of the HANA Cockpit and HANA 2 SPS02. I can’t wait to see what SPS03 brings next April!

 

Shout out to the SAP HANA Academy team and Tony De Thomasis for the motivation to write this weblog.