Existence care for the Linux Hana use

It would be wonderful if complete SAP environments with all their components or elements could optimize or tune themselves continuously at the push of a button in relation to the respective individual application without any intervention. And at any time, so that everything runs as it should. Everything, so to speak, in fully automated machine self-direction.

As we know, this is not the case - or not yet. SAP system environments in use change practically every day in terms of volume alone.

Which has implications for various infrastructure components. So often on Linux and the in-memory database Hana. In the worst case, you can run into crash situations.

In most cases, smaller or larger performance losses indicate that causes for this need to be identified and targeted optimization measures implemented.

Much can be gained if Hana and Linux have already been configured as optimally as possible for the respective individual use case prior to commissioning - or if they are configured during the initial installation. Unfortunately, this was not or is not always the case.

Alone, hand on heart: Who knows or reads all available SAP Notes for configuring, tuning or generally optimizing Linux in interaction with Hana (and beyond that with S/4 Hana, for example), of which there are a large number?

Small tools, big impact: saptune and sapconf

There is no question about it: There are large and very far-reaching tools or even suites for the optimization of SAP solutions and SAP infrastructures. They can be assigned to the provenance Enterprise Management System and often work together with SAP Solution Manager. Suse Manager, for example.

However, not all SAP infrastructure experts are aware that small but very effective optimization tools are provided, for example, with Suse Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications (SLES for SAP Applications) as the Hana operating system platform.

They can be traced back (along with the many other features and components available) to the Hana development partnership between Suse and SAP.

Likewise, the once five-year Suse-exclusive availability of the Hana-SLES-for-SAP-Applications combination and the vast experience know-how gained from thousands of Hana installations.

One tool is called saptune, the other sapconf. Both are available free of charge. sapconf is an element of Suse Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and is not SAP-specific.

Since the generic SLES variant is the basis for SLES for SAP Applications, it is also integrated here. saptune is provided exclusively together with SLES for SAP Applications and is thus explicitly geared towards SAP use.

Tiresome work is removed

If you will, saptune represents the evolutionary further development of sapconf and in particular has a higher granularity. saptune is able to configure SLES for SAP Applications fully automated (!) according to existing SAP specifications/guidelines for Hana.

That means: without any manual intervention. Which means a big gain. And: without ever having read a SAP Note on the subject. Which, of course, can't hurt. Whereby one has either the one or the other Suse tool in use.

Furthermore, SAP solutions such as Hana can be tuned in terms of performance by generating optimal parameter settings - also of great benefit.

In addition, saptune ensures that all SAP systems (with Hana and SLES for SAP Applications) advantageously have the same parameter settings as an existing central SAP solution or instance.

Saptune has been included since SLES- for-SAP-Applications version 12 SP2 and can be used in conjunction with both Hana-Intel and Hana-IBM-Power hardware.