Happy Birthday SAP Linux Lab!

For many, the scope or significance of the SAP Linux Lab for the SAP world was not apparent when it was founded in 1999. The focus was on ensuring that when SAP solutions are used, they are supported as optimally as possible by the Linux open source operating system.

At that time, various Unix derivatives and Windows dominated SAP IT infrastructure operating system environments. So what was the point of an operating system "for SAP", and open source at that, located here and there in the experimental corner at the time and not in the mission-critical sector?

Better together

The Linux Lab, consisting of SAP employees, hardware manufacturers and Linux distributors, worked hard to provide Linux for SAP with the necessary tools for the SAP Mission Critical Enterprise deployment.

For example, to provide Linux also for large SAP environments - at that time, for example, beyond the 1000 SAP user mark - and with a correspondingly high performance using hardware with Intel standard processors.

As early as the mySAP era from 2003 to around 2007, with complementary solutions such as CRM (then called Sales Force Automation) or SCM, Linux was vehemently catching up with Unix and Windows and conquering a firm place in the SAP infrastructure world.

Close cooperation

The fact that Suse SLES for SAP Applications is the leading Linux operating system in the SAP environment today is no coincidence and has a lot to do with the SAP Linux Lab.

From the beginning, Suse has been involved and supported SAP solution-related topics or put numerous usable functions into action specifically for SAP use, both with SAP and with partners.

The list is long and ranges from adaptive computing, business warehouse, industry solutions, SAP ERP ECC, SAP Business By Design and Business One, Suse as a software development platform, virtualization and Solution Manager to usability, performance management, security, high availability or implementation optimization and in-memory and cloud computing.

Milestone 2011: Hana

Whereby the year 2011 certainly represents a milestone, in which Suse Linux Enterprise Linux for SAP Applications was certified by SAP as the only operating system for SAP Hana.

The exclusive right granted by SAP for Hana to be offered on the market exclusively with Suse SLES for SAP Applications for five years has not only given Suse a further noticeable tailwind in the SAP environment, but has also enabled it to gain a valuable Hana Linux application know-how edge. SAP customers are demonstrably benefiting from this, right up to S/4 Hana deployment, for example.

Linux and more

But not only of that. In addition to Linux, SAP and Suse work closely together on other open source projects. In OpenStack, Ceph, the Cloud Foundry project, Kubernetes and also in virtualization with KVM.

Several Suse open source solutions are considered in the SAP Cloud Platform (SCP) as well as in the Hana Enterprise Cloud (HEC), are in use at SAP.

Worldclass Partnership

Suse and SAP, or the SAP Linux Lab, maintain a "Worldclass Partnership". This also includes the fact that Suse has always had a great and far-reaching understanding of the use of SAP solutions based on innovative and profitable infrastructure solutions. Already today: Happy Birthday 20 years SAP Linux Lab!