© 2013 Cisco | NetApp. All rights reserved. Page 1

Cisco UCS with NetApp Storage for SAP HANA Solution

Description

Q. What is SAP HANA?

A. The SAP High-Performance Analytic Appliance (HANA) platform is a flexible, multipurpose, data-source-

agnostic, in-memory computing platform built on the Intel® Xeon

® processor 7500 series. It combines SAP

software components optimized on hardware provided and delivered by SAP’s leading hardware platform

partners, including Cisco and NetApp. It includes a number of integrated SAP software components such as

the SAP in-memory computing engine (Figure 1), real-time replication service, and data modeling and data

services.

SAP HANA enables organizations to analyze business operations based on large volumes of detailed

information in real time, as the operations happen.

In addition to real-time analytics, SAP delivers a new class of real-time applications, powered by the

SAP HANA platform. The platform can be deployed as an appliance or delivered through the cloud. SAP

in-memory computing will become the core technology of SAP.

Figure 1: SAP In-Memory Computing Engine

© 2013 Cisco | NetApp. All rights reserved. Page 2

Q. How are customers using SAP HANA today?

A. The first use cases focused on providing “real real-time” analytical capabilities for SAP Business Suite

applications: for instance, cost-based profitability reporting with SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or

sales and customer analytics and segmentation with SAP Customer Relationship Management (CRM). SAP

HANA replicates transactional data using a real-time replication service, or extracts it using data services and

exposes it to SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) (or Microsoft Excel) for real-time analysis and

data exploration.

In addition, customers are increasingly using SAP HANA for high-value and purpose-built analytical use

cases outside the traditional SAP Business Suite environments: with consumer, interactive, web, and

machine data, for instance.

Further, SAP is delivering a new class of applications on top of the SAP HANA platform that provides real-

time insights for big data and state-of-the-art analysis: for instance, machine learning, pattern recognition, and

predictive capabilities.

Q. What is the rationale for and history leading up to SAP HANA?

A. SAP was an early pioneer in the use of in-memory technology for improving performance and in the use of

columnar databases for gaining high data-compression rates. TREX and SAP Enterprise Search were the first

solutions to use these concepts. Building on the strength of these early products, SAP then released the very

successful SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse (BW) Accelerator.

With SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator firmly established in the market, SAP expanded its vision to find other

purposeful ways to use this in-memory computing technology to benefit its customers. SAP’s focus on

business intelligence led to the decision to combine the business intelligence functions of SAP

BusinessObjects with the in-memory analytical engine of SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator, creating an

accelerated business intelligence solution called SAP BusinessObjects Explorer. With a focus on openness

and heterogeneity, SAP then evolved SAP BusinessObjects Explorer by including data integration. This

addition allows the solution to access and accelerate any data, and all information beyond structured data, in

SAP NetWeaver BW. The latest SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, accelerated version, was released in the

second quarter of 2010.

Building on the success of this accelerated business intelligence solution, SAP is now embarking on the

delivery of the multipurpose SAP HANA database that will eventually underpin many of SAP’s applications.

The first release of the SAP HANA database focuses on providing “real real-time” analytical capabilities for

SAP Business Suite applications. It directly replicates transactional data through a real-time replication

service and exposes it to business intelligence tools, including SAP BusinessObjects and Microsoft Excel, for

real-time analysis and data exploration.

Q. What are typical use cases for a SAP HANA solution?

A. The deployment of SAP HANA is guided by customers’ needs for:

Real-time in-memory analysis of huge amounts of data: Accessing detailed information in real time, rather

than based on assumptions or incomplete reports, helps enable businesses to act on business insights.

Real-time correlation between different systems: Combining data from the SAP HANA system with

external data from other sources improves and accelerates decision making.

Dynamic real-time definition of analytic queries: Shaping reports based on results that are not up-front

improves planning, forecasting, and financial close processes.

© 2013 Cisco | NetApp. All rights reserved. Page 3

Q. In which industries are HANA adopters found?

A. Typical industries already turning to HANA include:

Financial services

Consumer goods

Retail

Manufacturing

Healthcare

In terms of company size, large accounts and highly specialized companies are most interested today.

The scope will broaden as soon as HANA reaches the midsize enterprise level.

Q. Is SAP HANA available today?

A. SAP HANA has been available since June 20, 2011.

Q. Is the Cisco Unified Computing System™

(Cisco UCS®) with NetApp Storage for SAP HANA certified

and available today?

A. Cisco UCS with NetApp Storage for SAP HANA was certified in May 2012.

Q. What does a current SAP HANA solution look like?

A. It is a server-based, appliance-like solution owned by the server vendor, including software implementation

and responsibility for validation and support.

The appliance is based on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 and Intel-based servers. Two design options are

available:

Scale-up: A single server with a maximum of 1 terabyte (TB) of main memory; no external storage is

needed

Scale-out: Multiple servers combined into a multinode HANA system; external storage is needed

At this state, the HANA architecture put together by the hardware partners (server vendors) needs to be

validated and certified by SAP. NetApp storage is currently validated with NetApp FAS3240 systems in a

network-attached storage (NAS) configuration with 10 Gigabit Ethernet and the Network File System (NFS).

Q. I thought Cisco was a networking company. Why is Cisco teaming with SAP and NetApp on SAP

HANA?

A. As the worldwide leader in networking, transforming the way that people connect, communicate, and

collaborate, Cisco introduced the Cisco UCS server platform in 2009, a new model in data center efficiency

and agility. The Cisco UCS platform is designed with the performance and reliability needed to power

memory-intensive, mission-critical applications and virtualized workloads.

SAP and Cisco have optimized the SAP HANA database on the next-generation Cisco UCS server platform,

with the Intel Xeon processors 7500 series, giving customers a true competitive advantage on a server

platform designed from the start for today’s challenging requirements. NetApp offers data persistence,

providing exceptional performance, availability, and cost efficiency.

When Cisco moved into the server space, NetApp worked with Cisco to design the FlexPod shared

infrastructure, based on Cisco UCS, Cisco Nexus® products, and NetApp solutions. With Cisco UCS evolved

to the SAP HANA platform, validation of NetApp storage with the solution was an obvious step.

© 2013 Cisco | NetApp. All rights reserved. Page 4

Positioning and Competition

Q. What are the benefits to Cisco®, NetApp, and SAP joint customers?

A. Cisco, NetApp, and SAP are uniquely positioned as global leaders in technology, providing innovations for

many shared customers. Together, these companies provide differentiated, scalable, and secure end-to-end

solutions, at the same time reducing deployment risks, complexity, and total cost of ownership (TCO). As the

worldwide leader in networking, transforming the way that people connect, communicate, and collaborate,

Cisco introduced the Cisco UCS server platform in 2009, a new model in data center efficiency and agility.

The Cisco UCS platform is designed with the performance and reliability needed to power memory-intensive,

mission-critical applications and virtualized workloads.

NetApp is a leading storage vendor for SAP and provides a trusted platform for enterprise and midmarket

SAP installations worldwide. Based on industry standards, NetApp storage systems offer transparent

flexibility, enabling IT departments to move from small to midsize or large storage systems as data volumes

grow. Using a unified storage architecture, NetApp solutions create a single, end-to-end foundation for

dynamic data management that can scale from small to very large storage capacity without sacrificing

application performance or service levels. NetApp storage systems deliver what SAP HANA deployments

need: integrated data management and data protection, support for all storage tiers, and a high quality of

service in a single platform. They also provide the persistent storage needed by SAP HANA. Each NetApp

device is connected to two fabric interconnects through 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections to provide shared

access to SAP HANA data over the NFS protocol.

SAP in-memory computing technology provides the speed to power analytics at exceptional performance

levels, and Cisco UCS provides an agile, scalable, highly available, and cost- effective industry-standard

infrastructure platform. This combination enables customers to get information immediately, without the delay

of typical enterprise data warehouses, by building on the benefits of the Cisco UCS and NetApp platforms.

Q. What does the Cisco UCS with NetApp storage for SAP HANA appliance look like?

A. The current configuration is a Cisco UCS B440 M2 Blade Server based on the Intel Xeon processor E7-4870

chip that can scale from 3 nodes to 16 nodes with two NetApp FAS3240A storage systems. SAP HANA is

offered in a range of sizes (Extra Small, Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large). Based on SAP information,

there is no theoretical limit to the software’s scalability. Limitations depend on the hardware appliance

configurations that are certified by SAP hardware partners.

Q. What are the differences in the SAP HANA sizes?

A. SAP HANA comes in a range of sizes: Extra Small, Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large.

The SAP HANA single-node solution, Cisco UCS C260 M2 Rack Server, is built without external storage.

The single-node solution does not have high-availability and scale-out possibilities and is therefore not suited

for large enterprise customers. Cisco offers a Medium single-node solution based on the Cisco C460 high-

performance rack server with Fusion I/O cards. Cisco’s Large configuration, using Cisco UCS B440 blade

servers (a SAP HANA scale-out solution), contains NetApp external storage. With this solution, SAP HANA

customers can address larger SAP environments. The Extra Large Cisco UCS solution with NetApp storage

for SAP HANA can scale up to 16 nodes. The scale-out solution has been certified for SAP HANA since May

2012.

© 2013 Cisco | NetApp. All rights reserved. Page 5

© 2013 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered

trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to

this URL: www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective

owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other

company. (1110R)

2013 Cisco Systems, Inc. and NetApp, Inc. All rights reserved. No portions of this document may be

reproduced without prior written consent. Specifications are subject to change without notice. NetApp, the

NetApp logo, Go further, faster, and FlexPod are trademarks or registered trademarks of NetApp, Inc. in the

United States and/or other countries. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of

their respective holders and should be treated as such.

C67-726152-00 02/13

Availability, Pricing, Sales, Ordering, and Fulfillment

Q. Are demonstrations of SAP HANA with NetApp storage available?

A. Yes. Demonstrations are available at the SAP HANA Center of Excellence in Switzerland.

The SAP Co-Innovation Lab (COIL), together with its sponsors Cisco and NetApp, offers proof of concepts,

creates customer-specific demonstration scenarios, and runs development tasks. It is globally available by

remote access.

The following demonstration opportunities are being planned:

Walldorf, Germany, run by Cisco and NetApp

Tokyo, Japan, run by SAP COIL

Q. Can a customer use existing hardware to build a SAP HANA environment?

A. No. SAP does not support resource sharing with other applications. Server and storage resources are

dedicated to SAP HANA, which therefore necessitates the purchase of a precertified HANA appliance.

The Cisco and NetApp infrastructure for SAP HANA is packaged as a certified, preconfigured, preloaded

appliance.

Q. Where can I find up-to-date information about SAP HANA and the Cisco UCS platform?

A. See http://www.cisco.com/go/sap, http://www.netapp.com/us/solutions/applications/sap/sap-hana.html and

http://www.sap.com (search for “SAP HANA”), as well as the data center solutions page at

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns340/ns394/ns224/solutions.html. Also see Cisconetapp.com.