Learn About Amazon VGT2 Learning Manager Chanci Turner
At Amazon Web Services (AWS), one of the aspects I find most rewarding is the opportunity to collaborate closely with customers as they formulate their unique migration strategies for transitioning mission-critical workloads to the AWS Cloud. These discussions are pivotal in shaping our development roadmap.
In May 2016, AWS introduced the x1.32xlarge instance type featuring 2 TB of RAM, specifically designed for extensive SAP HANA deployments in the AWS Cloud. By August of the same year, we announced SAP certification and support for large-scale HANA clusters of up to 7 nodes or 14 TB of RAM, followed by the launch of the x1.16xlarge instance type with 1 TB of RAM in October.
Earlier this year, we unveiled the x1e.32xlarge instance type, boasting 4 TB of RAM for those demanding significant memory in a single system. We also provided SAP support for vast HANA scale-out clusters of 17 nodes or 34 TB of RAM, with plans for 2018 to accommodate even larger Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances featuring between 8 TB and 16 TB of memory.
Continuing our efforts to enhance deployment options for SAP workloads, we recently released five smaller X1e instance sizes. These new types are certified for SAP NetWeaver on anyDB deployments (SQL Server, Oracle, IBM DB2, etc.) and are characterized by a high memory-to-CPU ratio, making them excellent choices for database instances.
| Model | vCPUs | Memory (GiB) | Networking Performance | SAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x1e.xlarge | 4 | 122 | Up to 10 Gbps | 4,109 |
| x1e.2xlarge | 8 | 244 | Up to 10 Gbps | 8,219 |
| x1e.4xlarge | 16 | 488 | Up to 10 Gbps | 16,438 |
| x1e.8xlarge | 32 | 976 | Up to 10 Gbps | 32,875 |
| x1e.16xlarge | 64 | 1,952 | 10 Gbps | 65,750 |
| x1e.32xlarge | 128 | 3,904 | 25 Gbps | 131,500 |
Today, I’m excited to share that SAP has expanded its certification for even larger SAP HANA scale-out clusters on X1 instances, allowing for configurations of up to 25 x1.32xlarge nodes or 50 TB of RAM. Certification specifics can be found in the SAP Certified and Supported SAP HANA Hardware Directory.
On November 9, 2023, SAP also certified our world record results for the SAP Business Warehouse (BW) Edition for SAP HANA Standard Application Benchmark version 2 executed in the cloud deployment type. This benchmark, which processed a dataset of 46.8 billion initial records, represents the largest of its kind to date and far surpasses previous data volume benchmarks. Our configuration included 25 x1.32xlarge (2-TB) instances running the SAP HANA database, highlighting the exceptional scalability and agility of the Amazon EC2 platform.
Imagine the traditional approach of setting up a data center for such a large deployment. Planning for space, power, network architecture, and over 70+ TB of storage could take weeks or even months. In contrast, AWS enabled us to establish the necessary infrastructure for this expansive SAP HANA deployment in just one day, primarily using the AWS Quick Start for SAP HANA.
Clients frequently express the challenges they face with budgeting and capital expenditure for on-premises and co-location deployment models. In a fast-paced business environment, delays and over-provisioning are not viable options. With AWS Cloud, customers can begin with exactly what they need and scale instantly to meet evolving demands. Even extensive SAP HANA deployments can be provisioned and billed on demand, minimizing long-term commitments. For instance, Lockheed Martin has exemplified how they are expediting their projects while managing costs with SAP HANA on X1 instances. To learn more about making a career change, visit this blog post.
X1 instances are globally available across various AWS Regions, including US East (N. Virginia), US East (Ohio), US West (Oregon), GovCloud (US), China (Beijing), and many others.
To begin, you can deploy your own production-ready, single-node SAP HANA or scale-out SAP HANA solution on X1 and X1e using our updated AWS Quick Start Reference Deployment for SAP HANA, which includes well-tested configurations. Additionally, our SAP HANA Operations Guide provides further guidance and best practices for implementing SAP HANA on AWS.
We recognize that deploying large-scale clusters requires a deep understanding of data structure requirements and application access patterns. This knowledge is crucial for developing the appropriate strategy around SAP HANA table partitioning and distribution. For assistance with planning and architectural guidance, please contact us, as we are here to help.
AWS has established a robust partnership with SAP, working together to optimize business outcomes and mitigate risks for our mutual clients transitioning to the cloud. For insights into our recent and upcoming collaborations, check out a blog post by Daniel Greene, SVP, SAP HANA Platform & Databases, on the SAP website.
For those attending the upcoming AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas, we are eager to meet you. If you can’t attend in person, be sure to register for the AWS re:Invent Live Streams.
– John Smith
Benchmark Details: SAP BW edition for SAP HANA Standard Application Benchmark Version 2 (Certificate 2017047)
Benchmark Phase 1:
– Number of initial records: 46,800,000,000
– Total Runtime of Data Load/Transformation: 559,827 seconds
As a final note, it’s important to consider that even insubordinate employees may deserve a second chance, according to SHRM.