A short overview of the SAP HANA Performance Management Tools in SAP HANA 2.0 SPS00

SAP HANA capture and replay

Testing application workload can be a huge effort for users, developers and consultants alike. Also, things do not get easier on a large scale, especially for moving from one revision or SPS of SAP HANA to another.

Initially released with SAP HANA1 SPS12, SAP HANA capture and replay offers semi-automated support for integrated testing in the context of SAP HANA., the goal being to simplify the manual effort needed for creating tests and performing a more accurate replays than what is possible with other approaches.

SAP HANA: Using SAX Parser for Loading XML response from outbound HTTP into table

In this blog , I would like to share my thoughts around using XS destinations for internet connectivity and capturing the XML response and loading the same into HANA with the help of SAX XML Parser.

Scenario :

We shall take the familiar Google Maps API and let us see how can we connect from SAP HANA and capture the XML response. We would need to define xshttpdest for outbound connectivity.

Upload and Retrieve Image using SAP HANA XS & SAP UI5

One of the most common use case in building XS based Native HANA Application is working with file uploads like image, csv etc.,
In this blog I will explain how to:

1. Use SAPUI5 File Uploader to upload an image
2. Render preview of the uploaded image
3. Save it to HANA DB using a XSJS service.
4. Retrieve the saved image using XSJS service and render it on the UI.

Please note this approach can be applied for any type of file. e.g .csv, xlsx etc.,
Upload an Image using SAPUI5 File Uploader:

Licensing, Sizing and Architecting BW on HANA

I've had more than a few questions on BW on HANA Licensing and Sizing, and it seems that there isn't anything authoritative in the public domain. So here we go, but before we start...

Caveats

Architecting BW on HANA systems requires some care. First, database usage, number of indexes and aggregates, use of database compression, reorgs and non-Unicode systems all cause a variance in compression in the HANA DB. The best way to size a HANA DB is to do a migration.

How to use HDBAdmin to analyze performance traces in SAP HANA

Most of the time, the Plan Visualizer is sufficiently powerful to understand what is going on inside of SAP HANA when you run a query. However, sometimes you need to get to a lower level of detail to understand exactly what is going on in the calculation engine.

It is then possible to use HANA Studio to record performance traces, and analyze them with HDBAdmin. This is a fairly advanced topic, so beware!

First, let's pick a query which runs slowly. This query takes 12 seconds, which is longer than I'd like. Admittedly, it's a tough query, grouping 1.4bn transactions and counting over 2m distinct customers.

Generate Time Data in SAP HANA - Part 2

Procedure:

1. Generate the master data from the specific time frame that you are interested in

• On the Quick Launch Page > Data > Generate Time Data

Generate Time Data in SAP HANA - Part 1

In this document, I tried to explain "Generate Time Data" functionality. Through this, I am trying  to provide the general functionality and idea about the "Generate Time Data" with calender type "Gregorian".
In order to better understand how to use “Generate Time Data”, we are going to use standard table for the examples.

Note: While using this option you need to replicate the standard table into SAP HANA that is T005T, T005U, T009, and T009B. If these standard tables are not available then you will not be able use the “Generate Time Data” function.

SAP HANA Developer Edition 1.00 SPS11

After several months we finally have the SPS11 SAP HANA Developer Edition live with the brand new SAP HANA XSA configured and running, unfortunately being early meant we had a few problems along the way so hopefully you'll all be happy with the results - we are that is for sure!

Smart Data Access- A new feature by HANA

In Today's world, Companies are facing challenges to optimize cost and processes in order to sustain in this grim economic condition. Business has to be dynamic and agile to keep pace with the market and technology. Business has to get information in real time to make quick decision on time and at the same time, we need to keep control over cost for IT and Technology.

Keeping Business need in view, SAP has recently introduce Smart Data Access in SAP HANA which is a Virtualization Technique. This feature is introduced from SPS6 in SAP HANA. Smart Data Access enables SAP HANA to combine data from heterogeneous sources like Teradata, Sybase IQ, SAP Sybase Adaptive Service Enterprise and Hadoop.

Effective Query pruning using Constant Column in UNION node

So far we have known different modeling techniques for implementing business scenarios which include data from different sources, but need to be reported together in the output. The classic example for HANA modeling workshop is to display the “Actual” and “Planned” data, which can be combined together in a Calc view using UNION operator.

Fig 1. Actual vs Planned implementation using Projection nodes in UNION

SAP Hana Dynamic Tiering setup on Multi-tenant database with DWF

 I’ll explain how install/ configure SAP Hana MDC with Dynamic Tiering and deploy SAP Hana Data Warehouse Foundation 1.0 in order to support data management and distribution within my landscape including Hadoop (spark) and Sybase IQ.

For my setup I’ll use my own lab on Vmware Vsphere 6.0, run SAP Hana revision 112.02 and use Sybase IQ and Hadoop HDFS stack 2.7.2.

I’ll will create a new environment by using vm template explain in my previous documentation.

Disclaimer: My deployment is only for test purpose, I make the security simple from a network perspective in order to realize this configuration and use open source software.

HANA Monitoring Handy SQL's

Monitoring Memory Usage

Used Memory
The total amount of memory in use by SAP HANA is referred to as its Used Memory. This is the most precise indicator of the amount of memory that the SAP HANA database uses at any time

When used:  To understand the current used memory in HANA when HANA alerts shows usage greater than licensed memory. Understanding memory usage by components will help in troubleshooting and perform necessary memory clean up actions.

SAP HANA Extended Application Services

We introduce an exciting new capability called SAP HANA Extended Application Services (sometimes referred to unofficially as XS or XS Engine). The core concept of SAP HANA Extended Application Services is to embed a full featured application server, web server, and development environment within the SAP HANA appliance itself. However this isn't just another piece of software installed on the same hardware as SAP HANA; instead SAP has decided to truly integrate this new application services functionality directly into the deepest parts of the SAP HANA database itself, giving it an opportunity for performance and access to SAP HANA differentiating features that no other application server has.

Projection Filter push down in Calculation View

*** Please note that below document is based on the personal experience of using different HANA Information modeling constructs. The results of Performance tests depend upon the data volume and the Query filters. It is advisable to make the final judgement based on your own testing of such models.

Many of the reporting scenarios implement data comparison business case like “This Year to Last Year comparison” or similar. Such business requirement implementation in HANA can be done using the Calculation View model which is discussed in many of the presentations / training sessions. Something like shown below.

Table Transpose in SAP HANA Modeling

Approach 1:

• Analytic view will be built on each base table column which needs transposition.
• In this case 6 columns need transposition, hence 6 Analytic views will be created.
• Calculated Column (VALUE) is created in each Analytic view which derives the value of a particular month in a year.
• Create Calculation View based on Analytic Views created above and join them together using Union with Constant Value.
• No need to create Calculated Column (MONTH) in each Analytic view as this can be derived in Calculation View to improve performance.

Move HANA data and log files to different mount point

I decided to write this because I ran into a space problem while trying to upgrade a HANA test system. Of course, it isn’t a certified appliance, but I had to move the data and log files to another mount point to free up enough space to complete the upgrade.

Moving data files to a different mount point is a common procedure for many databases, but typically isn’t an issue with HANA’s appliance model. HANA has a very specific hardware configuration with the persistent mount point being 4 times RAM. The introduction of the Tailored Datacenter Integration (TDI) may warrant this process a little more often. I’ve outlined the steps below to move the $(DIR_GLOBAL)/hdb/data and $(DIR_GLOBAL)/hdb/log directories to a different location.

A first attempt at using HANA Cloud Integration to integrate Workday and Salesforce

Starting to do some research on this idea, I ran across an article about a recent agreement between Workday and Salesforce:
Under a technical agreement and go-to-market strategy, Salesforce and Workday will do the following:

• Salesforce will standardize on Workday's applications.
• Workday will standardize on Salesforce's applications and platform.
• Workday will integrate Salesforce with Workday's human capital management software, financials and big data analytics software.
• Salesforce will integrate Workday into Chatter and other applications. [SOURCE]

Then, I had an even more amusing thought – “What about a Workday – Salesforce integration”.

Since the Eclipse-based software for HCI is already available, I decided to see how far I could get with my nefarious – no - heretical plan.

Configure ABAP to HANA SSL connection

The below instructions are based on sapcrypto. In SP7, there is an option to use commoncrypto. OpenSSL is also an option if sapcrypto is not installed.

• Install sapcrypto on both CI and HANA systems
• This is well documented, so I won't provide details here
• Copy libsapcrypto.so to .../lib directory
• cp libsapcrypto.so /usr/sap/<sid>/SYS/global/security/lib
• Create PSE files for both the CI and HANA systems
• See 1718944 - SAP HANA DB: Securing External SQL Communication (SAPCrypto)
• If a Certificate Authority (CA) is not available, SAP provides an option to create a test cert that is valid for 8 weeks: https://websmp110.sap-ag.de/tcs

Dynamism of Fuzzy Search in SAP HANA

This blog is about one of the feature that SAP HANA provides, FUZZY SEARCH.

Now the question arises, what is Fuzzy search?!... So, Fuzzy search is the technique of finding strings that match a pattern approximately (rather than exactly). It is a type of search that will find matches even when users misspell words or enter only partial words for the search. It is also known as approximate string matching.

According to Fuzzy Search Reference guide, Fuzzy Search is a fast and fault-tolerant search feature for SAP HANA. The term “fault-tolerant search” means that a database query returns records even if the search term (the user input) contains additional or missing characters, or other types of spelling error.

Fuzzy search can be used in various applications, like:

• Fault-tolerant check for Misspelled words and typos
• Fault-tolerant search in text columns
• Fault-tolerant search in structured database content
• Fault-tolerant check for duplicate records

Using Multiple Values in Input parameter for filtering in Graphical Calculation View

In the previous blog SAP HANA: Handling Dynamic Select Column List and Multiple values in input parameter have shown on how to select multiple values for filtration using "Replace" function in procedure.

In that document, we went to procedure approach, since the user needs the dynamic output based on input conditions.

But if the output is static column list, you wouldn't want to use procedure, so in this blog will be explaining on how to achieve the same functionality of handling multiple values filter condition on a graphical calculation view using "Projection".

Problem Description:

Giving the flexibility of choosing the values he wishes to see in the report and then pushing the filtration logic to the lowest level possible.