Hello friends, welcome to my blog. My name is Aroon, and in this post, we are going to discuss about SAP HANA, which is the in-memory database from SAP.
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Now let us get into the topic.
SAP HANA stands for High-performance Analytic Appliance. It is an in-memory database.
Before we get into the details of SAP HANA, let us take a look at what is an in-memory database?
An in-memory database is a database that keeps data in memory rather than on a disc.
The primary distinction between traditional and in-memory databases is where the data is stored. Even when compared to solid-state drives (SSD), random access memory (RAM) is faster than disc access. Because an in-memory database uses RAM for storage, data access is much faster than a traditional database that uses disc operations.
In-memory databases are used in applications where faster access to data is required. It is commonly used in applications like real-time analytics, weather predictions, IoT and Gaming, to name a few.
The main downside of an in-memory database is data loss due to power failure. Since RAM is volatile, the data in the RAM will be lost when the power is turned off.
To address this issue, most in-memory database systems offer persistence.
Transaction logging is used to accomplish this. An in-memory database image is saved on the disk during a normal shutdown. The previously saved image is loaded when the application is reopened, and every transaction committed to the in-memory database is appended to a transaction log file. If the system crashes, the database can be restored by reloading the original database image and replaying the transactions from the transaction log file.
Okay, now let us talk about what is SAP HANA?
As mentioned before, SAP HANA is an in-memory database, and as a result, you can run advanced analytics in real-time and offer high-speed transaction capabilities.
It allows businesses to process massive amounts of data with near-zero latency, query data in real-time, and become truly data-driven. SAP HANA is unique – and significantly faster than other database management systems (DBMS) on the market today – because it stores data in column-based tables in main memory and combines online analytical processing (OLAP) and online transactional processing (OLTP).
It was introduced in 2010, and it provides advanced search, analytics, and data integration capabilities for all types of data – structured and unstructured – in addition to acting as a database server, storing and retrieving data requested by applications. It also serves as an application server, assisting businesses in developing intelligent, insight-driven applications based on real-time data, in-memory computing, and machine learning technology. These capabilities are available in the cloud as well as on-premise. SAP HANA simplifies IT, helps businesses innovate, and lowers costs by combining multiple data management capabilities and making all data instantly available from a single system.
Now, let’s look at the benefits of the SAP HANA database.
The SAP HANA database provides far more advantages than simply storing, serving, and providing a single source of truth. The following are the top ten advantages of SAP HANA, both on-premises and with SAP HANA Cloud:
Database services, advanced analytical processing, application development, and data integration are all included.
In large production applications, queries are answered in less than a second.
Versatile: Supports hybrid transactional and analytical processing, as well as a wide range of data types
Efficient: Offers a smaller data footprint with no data duplication, advanced compression, and data silos reduction.
Effective: Uses a massively parallel processing (MPP) database to query large datasets quickly.
Scalable: Scales easily for data volume and concurrent users in a distributed environment.
Flexible: Deploys in public or private clouds, multiple clouds, on-premises, or hybrid scenarios.
Simple: Advanced data virtualization provides a single gateway to your data.
Intelligent: Adds machine learning to applications and analytics (ML)
Secure: Provides comprehensive data and application security, fast setup and other features.
Something to note is that SAP S/4HANA, SAP’s next-generation ERP product, can run only on the SAP HANA database and not on any other databases.
What is SAP HANA Express Edition?
SAP offers a free version of the SAP HANA database that you can download and install on your laptop or a virtual server. It is free to use for in-memory databases of up to 32GB, and you can expand to 64, 96 or 128GB by purchasing an additional license.
You can download SAP HANA Express Edition from this website.
How can I learn more about SAP HANA?
There are so many channels available through which you can learn about SAP HANA.
The first one on that list is through SAP website. Under the “Get started” tab, you will find product demos, learning paths, tutorials, online events and documentation using which you will be able to get a tonne of information about SAP HANA.
SAP Communities – If you are already not familiar, SAP Community is a free website that contains a lot of information about different SAP topics. SAP HANA is one of those topics. In SAP communities, you will be able to find blogs, tutorials, webinars and events regarding SAP HANA and other topics.
In SAP Communities home page, click “Topics” and search for “SAP HANA”
SAP Training Centre – SAP official training & certification centre offers plenty of courses and certification for SAP HANA.
Click on “Explore catalog” –> “Technology” –> “Discover SAP HANA”
You can choose the one that you are interested in and get certified as well.
On top of these, there are obviously other ways like OpenSAP courses, YouTube channels and blogs through which you can learn more about not just SAP HANA but a variety of SAP topics.
End of the blog.
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