“Intel® 2nd generation Xeon® Scalable processors: A valuable technology for SAP HANA”

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By Fanny Osorio

A year has passed since I had the opportunity to write my first blog “TOP 10 Reasons for choosing HPE for SAP HANA”: http://bit.ly/2wPHW2S

As Intel®’s 2nd Generation Xeon Scalable processors (codename Cascade Lake) were released on April 2, I thought it would be a good idea to discuss some of the benefits and infrastructure options it provides and how this new technology impacts our HANA solution portfolio.

These new processors introduce several important technology improvements that are particularly relevant for SAP HANA: faster core frequencies and higher core count for many SKUs, more cache, faster memory bus, new higher-performance 128GB LRDIMMs, and last but not least support for  Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory Modules (DCPMM, a.k.a. Pmem or NVRAM).

All of this sounds good, but what’s the big deal?

1. 128GB Memory Modules have been out for some time now. However, up till now existing 128GB memory modules (3DS-based) were known to have a very high price tag and higher latency when compared to non-3DS 64GB or lower capacity modules. Hence, it was rare we would propose systems using these 128GB DIMMs as it wasn’t financially attractive. The availability of new, better performing and better priced 128GB LRDIMMs means that we can certainly offer larger memory configurations fully certified for S/4 HANA at a lower price point.
2. With the introdcution of Intel® Optane™ DCPMM the breadth of options widens. Even though the need for DRAM still exists, there are some potential benefits enabled by this new memory technology:
   1. Intel® Optane™ DCPMM offer higher memory capacity vs. standard DRAM.
   2. The ability to quickly restart/reload even your larger HANA DB is definitely a key added vaue of this technology.
   3. Other use cases are being evaluated as we speak, but we definitely can see this being leveraged for data tiering, dual-role replication scenarios, etc.

The fact that the SAP HANA software is ahead of the curve and already able to take advantage of this new memory tier (as of release SAP HANA 2 SPS3) means that SAP themselves saw the value of this innovative technology.

In fact, specific HANA sizing tools have already been updated to estimate the recommended ratio of DRAM:DCPMM based on your actual HANA requirements.

HPE has been working over the last few months engineering our new HANA solutions and doing extensive testing of this technology. We have already certified several HANA solutions using Intel®’s 2nd  generation Xeon® Scalable processors (up to 32-sockets/24TB as of April 25, 2019), providing our clients the ability to scale their HANA systems well beyond what others can. These include HPE Superdome Flex and several members of the HPE GEN10 family“

and are planning to certify much larger configurations, providing our clients the ability to scale their HANA systems beyond what others can. These include HPE Superdome Flex and several members of the HPE GEN10 family

Being the market leader for SAP HANA, we anticipate a lot of interest from our customers on how they could benefit from these new technology innovations.

Feel free to visit us at Sapphire in Orlando (May 7-9) if you want to learn more about our new Intel® Cascade Lake-based HANA solutions offering. We’ll be at Booth #2052 and would like nothig more than to spend a few minutes talking with you about how these new offerings can make a positive impact on your environment.  

You can learn more about our unique HANA-certified “HPE Superdome Flex: A Mission Critical Marvel” in this great blog. Also feel free to check out some of our other HANA solution offerings https://www.hpe.com/us/en/solutions/sap-hana.html

Fanny Osorio is a Master SAP Solutions Architect at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. A member of the Americas SAP Competence Center, Fanny Osorio has spent the last 18 years working as an SAP Solution architect, sizing and architecting solutions to run many different SAP applications on HPE technology, including physical and virtual infrastructures, for customers across the Americas. Since 2011, she has devoted most of her time to designing/sizing solutions for SAP HANA, and has become one of the HPE presales technical leads for SAP HANA. Fanny holds a Computer Engineering degree, and speaks English, Spanish, and French.