SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 01 – What’s the big deal?

SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 01 – What’s the big deal?

If you are an SAP system administrator like myself, the last thing you would consider exciting is yet another HANA database update – let’s face it, we all perform HANA patching at such a rate that our managers now consider it to be common place.


However, when I read through the release notes, my attention quickly turned towards the following technical improvements which would save my time and add a little safety into my daily routine.

• Mandatory support for Multi-Tenant Database Containers (MDC) – this means the Fiori and S/4HANA databases can co-exist on a single database with improved security and performance. In fact, you can no longer have single container systems from HANA 2.0 as MDC becomes the only operation mode.
• Individual tenants can now be backed up and recovered independently
• Improvements in High Availability and Disaster Recovery with support of continuous access on the second node while the primary is not available
• Encryption of data and log backups
• My absolute favourite, the new HANA Cockpit where I can manage all my HANA databases from one spot.

1. Pre-reading

2. Process

Run HDBLCM (SAP HANA DB Lifecycle Management) remembering to check the log file for any errors.

Please make sure you don’t wander away from the screen for any extended period of time, it is very easy to miss an input prompt on such a busy screen. I am looking forward to an improved user interface for the HDBLCM.

Login to HANA studio and re-create the HANA entries using Multi-Tenant option

3. Post Processing

Update the HDB client on all SAP Application Servers and configure the backup for the new MDC database.

To round out the exercise, make sure your new HANA 2.0 database is Diagnostic Specific in SAP Solution Manager.

Verify settings and logs in DBACockpit

4. Enjoy the HANA Cockpit

You will need to install a separate HANA Express XS engine on a small Virtual Machine. My one runs very well on 16gb RAM.

In conclusion, I can now say that the upgrade process for HANA 2.0 SPS01 for both my S/4HANA 1610 FPS02 and BW/4HANA 1.0 SP4 instances was relatively straightforward. The HANA 2.0 upgrade process has matured considerably compared to earlier versions of HANA. The new SAP HANA Cockpit has made a difference to the way I manage the growing number of HANA instances – and in my opinion, is a most compelling reason to consider your HANA 2.0 upgrade.