SAP HANA Tutorial for Beginners – A Quick Way to Learn SAP HANA

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Welcome to the SAP HANA tutorial. This is the introductory chapter of the new age technology called SAP HANA. In our journey of learning, we will cover SAP HANA architecture, history, significance, features, scope and many more. Stay with us as we explore the world of new in-memory database technology.

So, are you excited to learn SAP HANA Tutorial? Let’s start it.

What is SAP HANA?

SAP HANA is an in-memory database technology encompassing various components which makes it a complete package or suite for a centralized ERP system and business application development.

SAP HANA is a tool which comprises an in-memory HANA database, data modeling tools, data provisioning and HANA administration, making it a suite.

It uses real-time data processing/computing which fetches data directly from the in-memory (main memory) speeding up the data retrieval operations. This platform or tool deploy both on-cloud or on-premise aiding to the real-time analytics.

Another factor which makes SAP HANA the clear winner of the race is that it uses a large main memory (RAM), and multi-core processors which makes dealing with enormous data, a smooth experience. The multi-core processing engines process data parallelly within different columns of the same database and return data to the clients in no time.

This is by the virtue of a columnar or column-oriented database management system which is arranged and read in columns from top to bottom instead of rows (left to right). Using a columnar database optimizes data structure and eases storing large data by compressing it.

SAP HANA is the first technology which use for both OLTP and OLAP application processing. This means that you can use it for both transactional and analytical purposes.

It is achieved by extracting data from the transactional system like ERP, then transforming the data to use for reporting and also, it offers query processing environment for both structured and unstructured data such as a relational database (tables) and less structured (texts, graphs) respectively.

Thus, SAP HANA can use in many different ways like via SAP Business Warehouse, accelerators and native applications.

SAP HANA Features and Capabilities

In this section of SAP HANA Tutorial, we will go through all the main capabilities and features of SAP HANA in brief. We have a separate article where we discuss features of SAP HANA in detail.

  • An in-memory database, column-orientated database, and parallel database processing.
  • 100% ACID compliance
  • Multitier storage i.e. data stores both in-memory and on disk in columnar format.
  • Data modeling tools and application development tools, stored procedure.
  • Comprehensive administration tools.
  • Robust security and disaster recovery
  • Graphs and spatial processing
  • Predictive analytics and machine learning
  • Wide ranged text query searching and text analytics
  • Responsive web applications
  • Application lifecycle management
  • Data integration and replication
  • Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark integration
  • Remote data synchronization

SAP HANA Components

In this part of SAP HANA Tutorial, we will study the SAP HANA is a technology that is a collection of different tools and technologies that work in tandem to bring it in existence. There are four technologies which collectively make SAP HANA.

  • DB: SAP HANA DB is the core in-memory database which central to the functioning of SAP HANA.
  • Studio: SAP HANA Studio has the modeling tools for data handling and management.
  • Appliance: SAP HANA software install in an appliance, which is vendor hardware.
  • Application Cloud: SAP HANA Cloud is the cloud-based infrastructure ensuring the functioning of appliances.

Recommended top books to learn SAP HANA for 2019

SAP HANA Tutorial – History

Prior to commercialization of SAP HANA, a few other in-memory database technologies were introduced by SAP SE like the TREX search engine, P*TIME, MaxDB, etc. Then in later 2008, Mr Hasso Plattner, from SAP SE introduced the concept of SAP HANA as a real-time analytics and aggregation technology supported by an in-memory database management system.

The name HANA for this SAP technology was given by former SAP SE executive Mr Vishal Sikka and it is believed to be short for “Hasso’s New Architecture”.

Officially, SAP HANA was announced in September 2011 as a support technology for SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse. Then in the following years, SAP worked on introducing new technologies like cloud computing, enterprise cloud services, business suites, SAP ERP compatibility etc. In the year 2015, S/4 HANA was released which supported functionalities like ERP, CRM, SRM etc.

However, instead of releasing new versions of SAP HANA, SAP releases updates like service packs which are referring to as Support Package Stacks (SPS) which are released every six months. Many SPS updates were released for the first version of SAP HANA.

Then, in November 2016 SAP HANA 2 (second version) was released for which the first update SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 01 came in April of 2017. However, the latest version is SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 03.

The Significance of SAP HANA

Ever since the advent of technology, man has been struggling to make this world a better place with the optimal technology to use. In this endeavour, innovations to make the data storage and retrieval process fast and easy have been constantly made.

Earlier, data was stored in external storage disks (hard disks) and fetched by the CPU (single core) which was a very slow process involving many intermediate components like a cache. To overcome this issue, the concept of an in-memory database was introduced.

In this technology, data stores in the main memory i.e. the RAM and fetch by the processing units directly from there. This makes the data retrieval process a hundred times faster than doing it from the traditional databases.

SAP HANA is a technology with in-memory database management system at its core. SAP HANA was launched for public use in 2011 and is considered to be a revolutionary technology since then, as it was a major breakthrough in database management technology due to the concept of an in-memory database.

The traditional database technologies and concepts were very complex and slow, whereas the concept of an in-memory database is simple and fast. SAP HANA is not only software or hardware but is a technology which manifests itself in appliances made by combining SAP HANA compatible hardware devices and SAP HANA software.

Another fact that marks the significance of SAP HANA is it’s an ability to support both transactional (OLTP) and analytical (OLAP) data applications.

The data process, transform by applying complex calculations and aggregate easily to support complex analytical queries. Thus, SAP HANA is an outstanding new age technology which supports real-time data processing and analysis which is both fast and affordable.

SAP HANA Tutorial – License Editions

In this section of the SAP HANA Tutorial, we will discuss the two editions of the license.

  • Runtime license edition
  • Full Use license edition
  • Express edition

a. Runtime license edition

In this edition, you can run SAP applications like S/4 HANA and SAP BW powered by SAP HANA.

b. Full Use license edition

This edition supports both SAP and non-SAP applications. There are three sub-editions that are available under the full-use license edition.

  • Base edition: This edition provides all the core database features and development tools. However, it does not support SAP applications.
  • Platform edition: This edition provides the features of base edition along with features like spatial, predictive, R server integration, search, text, analytics, graph engines and additional packaged business libraries.
  • Enterprise edition: This edition provides features of platform edition plus added data loading and the rule framework capabilities.

c. Express edition

This edition is a special edition with a target user base of students who can use it on laptops and other resource-limited environments with an in-memory capability up to 32GBs.

SAP HANA Applications

SAP HANA has a very strong customer base as they provide a wide range of applications. In this part of SAP HANA Tutorial, we have collected some applications, let’s discuss them:

  • Core process accelerators
  • Planning, Optimization applications
  • Sense and response applications i.e. SAP HANA works as a digital core for an Internet of things (IOT).
  • It is efficient in processing high volumes of both transactional and analytical data by supporting OLTP and OLAP applications respectively.
  • SAP HANA works as a digital core for devices, people, big data, business networks and social networks.

The Scope of SAP HANA

SAP HANA is a promising technology that it will not be an exaggeration if it considers as a revolution in the database management system. SAP HANA is a widely popular technology from all over the globe and has hit top ranks on the revenue charts only a few years after its launch.

With better versions every year, this technology is the need of the hour and will continue to grow in terms of user base and market share in the coming years as well. Presently, a lot of fortune 500 companies are clients of SAP for SAP HANA.

Therefore, jobs are also more likely to keep on increasing in the coming years assuring SAP HANA professionals a bright future in this field.

SAP HANA Vendors

As we know, SAP HANA becomes a usable application by the fusion of hardware and software. The hardware is the physical components like a memory chip, processing unit, etc. which causes the concept of in-memory database management to come to reality and deliver the promised service.

In the hardware, SAP HANA software installs which is call as SAP licensed appliance. So, there are many IT vendors which make hardware compatible to the functioning of SAP HANA software.

In this SAP HANA tutorial, we have listed some popular vendors of HANA:

  1. IBM
  2. Dell
  3. HP
  4. Cisco
  5. Fujitsu
  6. Lenovo (China)
  7. NEC
  8. Huawei
SAP HANA Tutorial - Vendors

SAP HANA Tutorial – Vendors

According to a recent statistical analysis, IBM is a leading vendor of SAP HANA as it holds up to 70% of the market share.

This was all about SAP HANA Tutorials for beginners. Hope you liked our explanation.

Summary

This concludes our SAP HANA Tutorial. We hope by now you must have got a fair idea of the SAP HANA technology laying a foundation for understanding this technology better. In the coming lessons, we will discuss the features, advantages, limitations, functioning, and career in SAP HANA.

For any suggestions and queries related to SAP HANA Tutorial, drop your comments in the comment box below.

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15 Responses

  1. Abhi says:

    I like SAP Hana introduction very much because of detailed description. You covered every part of SAP HANA that is necessary for a beginner to head start.
    Thanks for sharing such a good tutorial.

    • DataFlair Team says:

      Hello Abhi,
      Thanks for the appreciation for SAP HANA tutorial for beginner. DataFlair started posting new content for the SAP HANA. Please regularly check our website, and also refer our sidebar, if you missed anything.
      Regards,
      DataFlair

  2. Samanta says:

    I have to agree with the valid points you make in your article because I see things like you. Additionally, your content is interesting and really good reading material. Thank you for sharing your talent.

    • DataFlair Team says:

      Hello Samanta,
      Thanks for the such a nice words for this SAP HANA tutorial for beginner. SAP HANA is one of the latest technologies publishing on DataFlair, we recommend you to visit regularly for more tutorials.

  3. Ranganath Ram says:

    Dear DataFlair,

    I like the way you narrated in simple terms including all the information under one roof. Must read site for beginners , Thank you for sharing the article in ready available for quick glance. Thank you.

  4. praveen says:

    I like SAP Hana introduction very much because of detailed description. You covered every part of SAP HANA that is necessary for a beginner to head start.
    Thanks for sharing such a good tutorial.

  5. Siva Kumar says:

    Hi, Can Finance graduate with finance domain experience get into SAP HANA and job? Please let me know.

  6. Aditya Kaushik says:

    The SAP HANA Training Institute in Noida platform provided by SAP SE provides the next-generation data management foundation for all of the industry-leading SAP solutions.

  7. Fatih Anıl says:

    Thank you Data-Flair, it is clear to unnderstand which the tutorial concludes everything about SAP HANA for beginners.

    • DataFlair Team says:

      Hey Anil,

      We are glad that you liked our SAP HANA tutorial. Do share this tutorial on social media to help your friends and others.

  8. siva ram yadav says:

    good explanation of sap hana for beginners

  9. Srinivas Boggula says:

    I like SAP Hana introduction very much because of detailed description. But you didn’t covered Hana Security features. How security is implemented in Hana. Overall it’s a good article and useful information for beginners.

  10. Preethi says:

    Very detailed and easy to understand…Each topics are interesting and the concepts are well explained.

    I am looking for BW/4 HANA,BW ON HANA tutorials as well.Do you have them also explained in a similar way.

  11. Arun says:

    Starting my journey to SAP HANA with Data Flair after searching for a good tutorial in so many other sources.
    Introduction itself is promising and planned to continue with other chapters.This is a great job and thanks for helping us out.

  12. ashok bhatt says:

    how can i get theese books for study purpose

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