SAP HANA is the industry’s leading in memory data processing platform with advanced capabilities. The
initial roll out of SAP HANA was in the form of fully integrated appliances where server, networking and
storage components were delivered as one package. This end to end testing and certification ensured that
the SAP HANA appliances met the stringent criteria set by SAP contributing in a major way towards the
predictability and success of the platform. Despite this, the appliance model is characterized with several
drawbacks. The major drawback being that the appliance model limits customer flexibility in choosing
server, networking and storage components. Additionally, the appliance model does not enable the use of
established data center operational best practices.
The SAP HANA Tailored Datacenter Integration (TDI) program is an additional option to existing SAP HANA
appliance model. This model allows connecting certified servers with shared storage resources. The SAP
HANA TDI program delivers the following advantages
Enables the reuse of existing hardware components
Enables the use of existing operational processes
Leverage existing ecosystem of server and storage vendors
As a result, customers can expect to realize reduced hardware and operational costs and increased
flexibility in hardware vendor selection.
This paper describes a reference architecture for deploying SAP HANA using Dell PowerEdge servers and
Dell Compellent storage. The reference architecture is developed based on extensive validation performed
within Dell labs. The configurations described in this whitepaper successfully meets the strict performance
and availability requirements set by SAP.