Using the SAP HANA Database

The SAP HANA database is available for use as a database for SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse (BW) and offers the following benefits:

Improved performance:
- The query performance is equal to or better than a scenario where SAP NetWeaver BWA is used:
  
  Complex analysis and planning scenarios with unpredictable query types, high data volume, high query frequency and complex calculations can be processed with a high degree of efficiency, as read accesses are in-memory optimized.
  
  In addition, the query performance on DataStore objects is comparable to the performance on InfoCubes.
- Load processes in SAP HANA-optimized Data Warehouse objects can be processed with a high degree of efficiency.
Simplified administration and infrastructure:
- The SAP HANA database replaces both the previous database and SAP NetWeaver BWA, thus contributing to a reduction in infrastructure costs. Instead of database administration and additional SAP NetWeaver BWA administration, the SAP HANA database requires just one set of administration tools, for monitoring or backup and restore for example.
- Data modeling is simplified. More information: SAP HANA-Optimized Objects
- Thanks to its high compression rate, the column-based data store ensures that less data needs to be saved. Column-based storage is used for all InfoProviders that save data. The property "SAP HANA-optimized" improves performance even further.

Note Note

Be aware of the licensing conditions when using SAP HANA products.

End of the note.

Implementation:

See the End-to-End Implementation Roadmap for SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse, powered by SAP HANA. You can find this document under http://help.sap.com/nw73bwhana Installation and Upgrade Information in the SAP Help Portal.
Using SAP HANA-optimized DataStore objects:

We recommend that you use the new data data flow (with transformation and DTP) for SAP HANA-optimized DataStore objects. If you are still using the 3.x data flow, we recommend that you migrate to the new data flow.

If a DataStore object is used as a source for update rules, conversion to SAP HANA-optimized is only supported if a new data flow is used.

More information:

Data Flow in Business Warehouse

Migrating a Data Flow

The following sections provides an overview of specific functions and the system response when using the SAP HANA database:

The following table provides an overview of obsolete functions and tools:

Obsolete Functions and Tools	Explanation and Further Information
SAP NetWeaver BWA	If you use the SAP HANA database to persist data, you do not need a SAP NetWeaver BWA to improve performance. You therefore do not need to create and fill indexes, thus simplifying both data modeling and system administration. Notes and recommendations regarding SAP NetWeaver BWA contained in the documentation are obsolete if using the SAP HANA database.
Aggregates	Aggregates do not improve performance if the SAP HANA database is used as persistence. More information: Performance Optimization with Aggregates
Database-Specific Processes and Others	If you use the SAP HANA database to persist data, you no longer need a process for filling aggregates for example, or for building/deleting the index for InfoCubes. More information: Obsolete Process Types for SAP HANA Database