vce vblock™ specialized system for sap hana® software

VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® software Architecture Overview

Revision history


Document revision 1.2 April 2014

www.vce.com

© 2014 VCE Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved.


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Revision history VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® software Architecture Overview

Revision history

Date Document revision

Author Comments

July 2013 1.0 K. McCarthy Initial release.

August 2013 1.1 K. McCarthy Revised the 4-node and 8-node comparison table in the Configurations topic of the Overview.

May 2014 1.2 K. McCarthy This revision includes following changes: Changed the Overview section title to Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA and restructured/revised the content of the section as follows: Added the Overview topic Added the SAP HANA appliance architecture topic Added The SAP HANA database topic Updated the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA architecture image in the Architecture overview topic Changed the name of the Configuration topic to Supported configurations and revised the content Changed the name of the Component connectivity topic to Connectivity overview and revised the content Revised the Unified storage architecture topic Deleted the SAP HANA software topic Deleted the following from the Management section of the table in the Infrastructure components topic, from the Architecture overview topic, and from the Software section of the comparison table in the Supported configurations topic: EMC VNX Local Protection Suite\ EMC VNX Remote Protection Suite EMC VNX Application Protection Suite Renamed the EMC VNX Series storage arrays topic to EMC VNX 5300 storage array and revised it. Revised the Storage resources topic Removed the Internal NFS access portion of the Additional storage features topic and made it a standalone topic Deleted the rest of the Additional storage features topic

This VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® contains a copy of SAP HANA Appliance Software. Each SAP product is subject to its respective SAP end-user license agreement. The VCE Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA does not contain a license to SAP HANA Appliance Software. Please be advised that you have no right to use and that you are not licensed to use the copy of SAP HANA Appliance Software contained in the VCE Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA until you have purchased or have available for use the appropriate license from SAP or one of its authorized distributors.

2 © 2014 VCE Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved.


Table of contents

Table of contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 5

Accessing VCE documentation ................................................................................................................. 7

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA .............................................................................................. 8 Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 8 SAP HANA appliance architecture ......................................................................................................... 9 The SAP HANA database .................................................................................................................... 10

SAP HANA database features ....................................................................................................... 10 Infrastructure components .................................................................................................................... 13 Architecture overview ........................................................................................................................... 14 Supported configurations ...................................................................................................................... 15

4-node configuration cabinet elevations ........................................................................................ 17 8-node configuration cabinet elevations ........................................................................................ 19

Connectivity overview ........................................................................................................................... 21 Segregated network architecture .......................................................................................................... 21 Unified storage architecture .................................................................................................................. 21

Compute layer hardware .......................................................................................................................... 24 Compute overview ................................................................................................................................ 24 Cisco Unified Computing System ......................................................................................................... 24 Cisco UCS fabric interconnects ............................................................................................................ 25 Blade packs .......................................................................................................................................... 25

Storage layer hardware ............................................................................................................................ 26 Storage overview .................................................................................................................................. 26 EMC VNX 5300 storage arrays ............................................................................................................ 26 Storage resources ................................................................................................................................ 27

RAID packs .................................................................................................................................... 27 Disk array enclosure packs ............................................................................................................ 27

Internal NFS access ............................................................................................................................. 28

Network layer hardware ............................................................................................................................ 29 Network overview ................................................................................................................................. 29 IP network components ........................................................................................................................ 29 Storage switching components ............................................................................................................. 30

Management components ........................................................................................................................ 31 Management hardware components .................................................................................................... 31 VMware vSphere ESXi 5.x ................................................................................................................... 32

Cluster configuration in the HA AMP ............................................................................................. 32


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Table of contents VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® software Architecture Overview

Data stores ..................................................................................................................................... 32 VMware vCenter Server ....................................................................................................................... 32

Databases ...................................................................................................................................... 33 Authentication ................................................................................................................................ 33

Advanced Management Pod tools........................................................................................................ 34 AMP tools ....................................................................................................................................... 34

Cabinets ..................................................................................................................................................... 35 Cabinets overview ................................................................................................................................ 35 Power options ....................................................................................................................................... 35

North America power options ......................................................................................................... 35 Power options outside of North America ........................................................................................ 36

Additional references ............................................................................................................................... 37 References overview ............................................................................................................................ 37 Compute components .......................................................................................................................... 37 Network components ............................................................................................................................ 38 Storage components ............................................................................................................................ 38 SAP HANA software ............................................................................................................................. 38



Introduction

Introduction

This document describes the high-level design, hardware, and software components of the VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® software.

Optimized for SAP HANA software, the system represents best-of-breed compute, network, and storage components from VMware, Cisco and EMC. SAP HANA is a hardware and software combination that integrates a number of SAP components including the SAP HANA database, SAP LT (Landscape Transformation) Replication Server, SAP HANA Direct Extractor Connection (DXC) and Sybase Replication technology. The SAP HANA database is the heart of SAP’s in-memory technology offering, helping customers to improve their operational efficiency, agility, and flexibility.

The SAP HANA database is a hybrid in-memory database that combines row-based, column-based, and object-based database technology. It is optimized to exploit the parallel processing capabilities of modern multi-core CPU architectures and is 3,600 times faster than standard disks allowing massive amounts of data to be queried and analyzed faster. It combines transactional data processing, analytical data processing, and application logic processing functionality in memory; enabling realtime online analytical processing (OLAP) analysis on an OLAP data structure. It also allows for the scaling of multi-tenant type environments on a single database eliminating the need for different types of databases for different application needs, and reduces the complexity of the database management system (DBMS). With this architecture, SAP applications can benefit from current hardware technologies.

SAP HANA requires a high performance scale-out infrastructure. Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA is optimized with Cisco UCS blade servers on EMC VNX delivers the server and storage infrastructure needed across block or file data access and seamless growth to enable real time data analytics. The SAP HANA scale-out design incorporates high availability that is managed and operated at the application level. Each system includes a standby node that provides failover capability.

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA leverages advantages in server technology, in-memory databases, and cloud computing. It utilizes a scale-out architecture. In the scale-out scenario, the SAP HANA database instance is distributed over multiple servers. Customers can incrementally add Cisco B440 M2 blade servers, each with up to 512 GB of usable memory with four Intel® Xeon® Processors E7-4870 (2.4 GHz), as needed. The built-in fault tolerance of Cisco UCS blade servers and EMC VNX ensures the infrastructure will be available through hardware failures.


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Introduction VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® software Architecture Overview

Thoroughly tested and certified by SAP and VCE, key components and features of the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA include:

• Pre-integrated and pre-validated Vblock System infrastructure simplifies and optimizes deployment and management

• Factory pre-installation and configuration of the SAP HANA appliance hardware, operating system, and SAP HANA Platform Edition software

– SAP HANA software with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server operating system pre-installed

• Single storage platform with centralized management for file and block data services

– EMC VNX 5300 unified storage block and file access

• Single-purpose environment with all server resources dedicated to the SAP HANA appliance

• Scales four to sixteen blades across one to four EMC VNX platforms

• Common power solution across cabinets with domestic and international options

SAP HANA supports various use cases for real-time analytics. Some samples include:

• Monitoring and optimization of telecommunications network

• Supply chain and retail optimization

• Fraud detection and security

• Forecasting and profitability reporting

• Energy use optimization and monitoring

The VCE Glossary provides terms, definitions, and acronyms that are related to Vblock Systems. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation for additional information.

To suggest documentation changes and provide feedback on this document, send an e-mail to [email protected]. Include the name of the topic to which your feedback applies.


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Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® software Architecture Overview

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA

Overview

Optimized for SAP HANA software, the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA software represents best-of-breed compute, network, and storage components from VMware, Cisco, and EMC. SAP HANA is a hardware and software combination that integrates a number of SAP components, including:

• SAP HANA database

• SAP LT (Landscape Transformation) Replication Server

• SAP HANA Direct Extractor Connection (DXC) and Sybase Replication technology

The SAP HANA database (also referred to as the SAP in-memory database) is a hybrid in-memory database that combines row-based, column-based, and object-based database technology. It is optimized to exploit the parallel processing capabilities of modern multi-core CPU architectures and is 3,600 times faster than standard disks allowing massive amounts of data to be queried and analyzed faster. It combines transactional data processing, analytical data processing, and application logic processing functionality in memory; enabling realtime online analytical processing (OLAP) analysis on an OLAP data structure. It also allows for the scaling of multi-tenant type environments on a single database, eliminating the need for different types of databases for different application needs, and reduces the complexity of the database management system (DBMS). With this architecture, SAP applications can benefit from current hardware technologies.

The SAP HANA appliance requires a high performance scale-out infrastructure that combines hardware and software to provide a flexible, data-source-agnostic appliance that allows the analysis of large volumes of data in real time without the need to materialize aggregations.

To provide seamless growth to enable realtime data analytics, the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA is optimized with Cisco UCS Blade Servers with EMC VNX. This enables it to deliver the server and storage infrastructure needed across block, or file, data access. The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA scale-out design (see Sizing for additional information) incorporates high availability (HA) that is managed and operated at the application level. Each system is configured with N + 1 redundancy which includes N worker nodes and a standby node (see Supported configurations for additional information) that provides failover capability. The SAP HANA software monitors the status of all nodes and if a node fails, its portion of the database is restarted on the standby node. Once the failed node is repaired, it then becomes the new spare node.




SAP HANA appliance architecture

The SAP HANA appliance consists of the:

• SAP HANA database

• Components needed to work with, administer, and operate the database

• Repository files for the SAP HANA studio and the SAP HANA client

The following illustration shows the high-level architecture of the SAP HANA appliance:


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The SAP HANA database

The SAP HANA database combines columnar data storage, massively parallel processing (MPP), and in-memory computing to deliver significant processing speed, the ability to handle big data, predictive capabilities, and text-mining capabilities.

There are two engines within the SAP HANA database:

• A column-based store

– Stores relational data in columns, optimized for holding tables with huge amounts of data, which can be aggregated in real-time and used in analytical operations.

– Query performance is higher than the row-based store.

• A row-based store

– Stores relational data in rows, optimized for row operations, such as frequent inserts and updates.

– It has a lower compression rate.

– Query performance is much lower than the column-based store

SAP HANA database features

SAP HANA database features include:

• Data persistence

• High availability

• Sizing




Data persistence

SAP HANA uses in-memory technology, but it fully persists any transaction that changes the data (such as row insertions, deletions, and updates), so it can resume from a power-outage without loss of data.

Two types of data persist in the SAP HANA database:

• Transaction redo logs

• Data changes in the form of savepoints

A transaction redo log is used to record a change. To make a transaction durable, the complete data is not required to persist when the transaction is committed; instead it is sufficient to persist the redo log. Upon an outage, the most recent consistent state of the database can be restored by replaying the changes recorded in the log, redoing completed transactions, and rolling back incomplete ones.

A savepoint is a periodic point in time, when all the changed data is saved, in the form of pages. One goal of performing savepoints is to speed up restart. When starting up the system, logs need not be processed from the beginning; only the logs from the last savepoint position are processed. Savepoints are coordinated across all processes (called SAP HANA services) and instances of the database to ensure transaction consistency. By default, savepoints are performed every five minutes, but this is configurable.

Savepoints normally overwrite older savepoints, but it is possible to freeze a savepoint for future use; this is called a snapshot. Snapshots can be replicated in the form of full data backups, which can be used to restore a database to a specific point in time. This can be useful in the event of data corruption, for instance. In addition to data backups, smaller periodic log backups ensure the ability to recover from fatal storage faults with minimal loss of data.

High availability

Availability is the measure of system operational continuity. It is expressed as a percentage of time and inversely proportional to downtime. Downtime is the consequence of outages, which may be intentional (for example, for system upgrades), or caused by unplanned faults.

High availability (HA) is a set of techniques, engineering practices, and design principles for Business Continuity. This is achieved by eliminating single points of failure (fault tolerance), and providing the ability to rapidly resume operations after a system outage with minimal business loss (fault resilience). Eliminating single points of failure is accomplished through hardware, network, and data center redundancy.

As an in-memory database, the SAP HANA database on the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA must concern itself not only with maintaining the reliability of its data in the event of failures, but also with resuming operations with most of that data loaded back in memory as quickly as possible. The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA HA capability requires shared external storage in order to move the in-memory content of a SAP HANA active node (worker node) in a scale-out scenario from a failed worker node to a standby node.

The first phase of HA is readiness, being prepared for the inevitable fault. During this time, data is backed up and standby systems are ready to take over. When a fault is detected and a node fails, either automatically or


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administratively (to avoid false positives), a recovery process is put in action, the standby node replaces the failed node, and the system continues operating normally. When the fault is repaired on the failed node, it becomes the standby node. While the system can continue normal operation in this configuration, it can also be reverted to the original configuration (failed back).

Sizing

SAP HANA’s in-memory storage capacity allows the processing of massive quantities of realtime data to provide the immediate results to users because of the huge amount of memory. As a result, the SAP HANA database size determines the requirements for the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA. In a scale-out scenario, the SAP HANA database instance is distributed over multiple servers. You can incrementally add nodes by adding Cisco B440 M2 blade servers (each with up to 512 GB of usable memory with four E7-4870 2.4 GHz Intel Xeon Processors), as needed.

The number of nodes required for the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA is based on the existing system data volume and future growth analysis. The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA size should be based on the applicable business requirements and future growth. The important benefit provided by correctly sizing the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA is to achieve the unparalled speed to access and output this realtime data. Properly sizing your Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA also helps to get the ROI, and helps to reduce the future maintenance costs due to data volume growth over time.

The following table provides an estimate as to the size of traditional databases that can be accommodated on the 4-node and 8-node Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA:

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA configuration

Available memory (GB)

Usable memory (GB)

Estimated compression ratio for SAP BW data

Estimated size of the source database that can be accommodated (GB)

4-node (3+1) 1,536 768 4:1 3,072 8-node (7+1) 3,584 1,792 4:1 7,168

In general, approximately 50% of available memory can be used to store data; the other 50% is required for working space. The estimated size of the source database assumes that the 4:1 compression ratio is achieved.

The SAP sizing tools only focus on the disk space required for the actual database data. When designing a Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA to support SAP it is essential to take account of all the other disk space requirements such as:

• Application server

• Database server

• Others




Infrastructure components

The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA provides a highly scalable and available infrastructure that leverages the EMC VNX 5300 and Cisco UCS to help organizations best utilize the big data analytics capabilities in SAP HANA and make better realtime business decisions.

The following table lists the key infrastructure hardware and software components in the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA:

Resource Components

Compute • Cisco UCS 5108 Server Chassis • Cisco UCS B-Series Blades (B440 M2) • Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Card 1280 • Cisco UCS 2208XP Fabric Extenders • Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnects

Network • Cisco Nexus 5548UP switches • Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric switch • Cisco Data Center Network Manager for SAN (DCNM-SAN)

Storage • EMC 2-RU, 25 2.5” drive DAE • EMC VNX 5300 array running the VNX Operating Environment (OE) • EMC Unisphere • EMC VNX OE for Block • EMC VNX OE for File • EMC VNXe3150 OE

Operating system • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP2 on blades (Bare Metal)

Management • Cisco UCS Manager • EMC Unisphere Manager • EMC VNX Security and Compliance Suite • EMC Secure Remote Support (ESRS) on Windows

High Availability (HA) AMP • VMware vSphere Server Enterprise Plus • VMware ESXi 5.x • VMware vCenter Server • Cisco Catalyst 3560 switch • Cisco UCS C220 Server

The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA Release Certification Matrix provides a list of the latest certified versions of components. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.


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Architecture overview

The following illustration provides a high-level overview of the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA architecture.

The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA Release Certification Matrix provides a list of the latest certified software version used in each level of the architecture. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.




Supported configurations

The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA is a distributed system consisting of:

• Worker nodes

• A standby node

A node is a server or blade on which you create an individual instance of the SAP HANA software. The total number of nodes depends on the specific configuration.

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA configurations are:

Configuration Worker nodes

Standby node

Notes

2-node 1 1 3-node 2 1 Minimum configuration required for SAP Business Warehouse

(BW) use case. 4-node 3 1 5-node 4 1 6-node 5 1 7-node 6 1 8-node 7 1

Each Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA has one hot-standby node for high availability. Additional support is planned for other Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA configurations of from 9 (8 worker nodes +1 standby node) to 16 nodes (15 worker nodes +1 standby node).

The data storage requirement determines which Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA configuration is applicable in a given situation. In general, approximately 50 percent of the memory is available to store data; the other 50 percent is required for working space. Each node provides 512 GB of memory, for a total of 2,048 GB of memory for the 4-node configuration (1024 GB for data storage) and 4,096 GB of memory for the 8-node configuration (2048 GB for data storage).


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The following table provides a comparison between the 4-node and 8-node configurations of the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA:

System 4-node (3 nodes + 1 standby) 8-node (7 nodes + 1 standby)

Usable memory 1.5 TB 3.5 TB

High availability AMP 2 x Cisco UCS C220 M2 High-density Rack Mount Server

2 x Cisco UCS C220 M2 High-Density Rack-Mount Server

2 x Cisco Catalyst 3560 Series switch 2 x Cisco Catalyst 3560 Series switch

1 x EMC VNX 3150 OE 1 x EMC VNX 3150 OE

Compute and network infrastructure

2 x 42RU cabinets 2 x 42RU cabinets

2 x Cisco USC 5108 Chassis 2 x Cisco USC 5108 Chassis

2 x Cisco UCS 2208 IOM 2 x Cisco UCS 2208 IOM

4 x Cisco UCS B440 M2 Blade Server, 512 GB

8 x Cisco UCS B440 M2 Blade Server, 512 GB

2 x Cisco UCS 6248UP 48-Port Fabric Interconnect

2 x Cisco UCS 6248UP 48-Port Fabric Interconnect

2 x Cisco Nexus 5548UP switch 2 x Cisco Nexus 5548UP switch

Storage infrastructure 1 x EMC VNX 5300 Array (Unified) 1 x EMC VNX 5300 Array (Unified) 1 x EMC VNX 5300 Array (Block)

2 x 2U DAE with 25 x 2.5 inch drive slots (CNS 1 only)

4 x 2U DAE with 25 x 2.5 inch drive slots (2 on CNS 1 and 2 on CNS 2)

45 x T2 5 600 GB 10K RAID 5 (4+1) 90 x T2 5 600 GB 10K RAID5 (4+1)

Vault pack: 300 GB SAS (8 drives) Vault pack per VNX 5300: 300 GB SAS (8 drives)

Boot drives: 300 GB SAS (5 drives) Boot drives per VNX 5300: 300 GB SAS (5 drives)

Hot spares: 1 x 300 GB, 2 x 600 GB Hot spares per VNX 5300: 1 x 300 GB, 4 x 600 GB

2 x Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric switch

2 x Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric switch

Software SUSE Linux 11 SP2 (64-bit) SUSE Linux 11 SP2 (64-bit)

SAP HANA Database SAP HANA Database

SAP HANA Studio (Installed by the customer on one of their own machines.)

SAP HANA Studio (Installed by the customer on one of their own machines.)

VMware vSphere Server Enterprise Plus VMware vSphere Server Enterprise Plus

VMware ESXi 5.x on AMP VMware ESXi 5.x on AMP

VMware vCenter Server VMware vCenter Server

Cisco UCS Manager Cisco UCS Manager

EMC Unisphere EMC Unisphere




4-node configuration cabinet elevations

The 4-node Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA consists of 3 worker nodes and 1 standby node. Each of the compute, network, and storage cabinets (CNS 1 and CNS 2) contains 2 nodes.

CNS 1


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CNS 2




8-node configuration cabinet elevations

The 8-node Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA consists of 7 worker nodes and 1 standby node. Each of the compute, network, and storage cabinets (CNS 1 and CNS 2) contains 4 nodes.

CNS 1


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CNS 2




Connectivity overview

Components within the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA are conceptually subdivided into three layers:

Layer Description

Compute Contains the components that provide the computing power within a Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA. The Cisco UCS blade servers, chassis, and fabric interconnects belong to this layer.

Storage Contains the EMC VNX storage components. Network Contains the components that provide switching between the compute and storage layers within a

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA, and between Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA and the customer network. Cisco MDS 9148 switches and Cisco Nexus 5548UP switches belong to this layer. Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA has a unified storage architecture and a segregated network architecture.

Segregated network architecture

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA has a segregated network architecture. LAN and SAN connectivity is segregated into separate switches within the system. LAN switching uses the Cisco Nexus 5548UP switches and SAN switching uses the Cisco MDS 9148 switches.

Unified storage architecture

The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA has a unified storage architecture. This architecture allows you to run and manage files and applications from a single device. A unified storage system consolidates file-based and block-based access in a single storage platform and supports Fibre Channel (FC) SAN, IP-based SAN (iSCSI), and NAS (network attached storage).

The Cisco UCS blades boot over the FC SAN. The boot devices are presented over FC and data service can be either block devices (SAN) or presented as NFS data stores (NFS).


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The following illustration shows the components (highlighted in a red dotted line) that are leveraged to support SAN booting in Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA:




The storage processors (SPs) in the VNX 5300 arrays also connect to X-Blades over FC. The X-Blades connect to the Cisco Nexus 5548UP switches within the network layer over 10 GbE, as shown in the following illustration:


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Compute layer hardware VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® software Architecture Overview

Compute layer hardware

Compute overview

Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) B-Series Blade Servers provide the computing power within Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA. The blades are installed in the Cisco UCS Chassis.

Fabric Extenders (FEX) within the Cisco UCS Chassis connect to Cisco Fabric Interconnects over converged Ethernet. Four 10 GbE ports on each FEX connect northbound to the fabric interconnects regardless of the number of blades in the chassis. These connections carry IP and storage traffic.

Each fabric interconnect has multiple 10 GbE ports. VCE has reserved some of these ports to connect to upstream access switches within the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA. These connections are formed into a port channel to the Cisco Nexus switch and carry IP traffic destined for the customer network. In a unified storage configuration, this port channel can also carry IP traffic to the X-Blades within the storage layer.

Each fabric interconnect also has multiple FC ports reserved by VCE. These ports connect to the Cisco MDS storage switches. These connections carry FC traffic between the compute layer and the storage layer. In a unified storage configuration, these connections also enable SAN booting of the UCS Blades.

Cisco Unified Computing System

The Cisco UCS data center platform unites compute, network, and storage access. The Cisco UCS integrates a low-latency; lossless 10 GB Ethernet unified network fabric with enterprise-class, x86-based servers (Cisco B-Series).

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA contains a number of Cisco UCS 5108 Server Chassis. Each chassis can contain up to four full-width Cisco UCS B-440 M2 Blade Servers for the 4-node Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA or up to eight full-width Cisco UCS B-440 M2 Blade Servers for the 8-node Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA. In Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA, each chassis also includes Cisco UCS 2208XP Fabric Extenders and Cisco UCS B-Series network adapters.

The VCE Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA Port Assignments Reference provides information about the assigned use for each port in the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.



Compute layer hardware

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA powered by Cisco UCS features:

• Built-in redundancy for high availability

• Hot swappable components for serviceability, upgrade, or expansion

• Fewer physical components than in a comparable system built piece-by-piece

• Reduced cabling

• Improved energy efficiency over traditional blade server chassis

Cisco UCS fabric interconnects

The Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects provide network connectivity and management capabilities to the Cisco UCS Blades and Chassis. The fabric interconnects offer line-rate, low-latency, lossless 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and FC over Ethernet (FCoE) functions. They provide the management and communication backbone for the blades and chassis, and facilitate LAN and SAN connectivity for all blades within their domain. The Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects provide two, four, or eight single domain uplinks between the fabric interconnects and the chassis.

Blade packs

Cisco UCS blade packs include:

• Two identical Cisco UCS blades

• Two fabric interconnect port licenses

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA uses a bare metal blade pack consisting of two Cisco USC B440 M2 2.4 GHz Xeon 512 GB @ 1066 MHz blades.

The 4-node configuration of Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA includes two blade packs. The 8-node configuration of Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA includes four blade packs. The maximum number of blade packs depends on the configuration of the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA.

Each blade pack is added along with license packs for the Cisco Nexus 5548UP switches.


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Storage layer hardware VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® software Architecture Overview

Storage layer hardware

Storage overview

The storage layer within Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA consists of an EMC VNX storage array. The storage array consists of a number of disk array enclosures (DAEs) that contain disk drives. These connect to dual storage processors (SPs) over 6 GB four-lane serial attached SCSI (SAS). FC expansion cards within the SPs connect to the Cisco MDS switches or Cisco Nexus unified network switches within the network layer over FC.

Refer to Additional storage features.

EMC VNX 5300 storage arrays

The EMC VNX 5300 storage array supports block and unified storage. Regardless of the storage protocol implemented at startup (block or unified), the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA includes cabinet space, cabling, and power to support the hardware for these storage protocols.

The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA uses the EMC VNX 5300 storage array for file or unified storage components. The components include:

• One standby power supply (SPS)

• One disk processor enclosure (DPE)

• Two control stations (CS)

• Two Data Mover enclosures (DME)

• Two DAE for the 2-node, 3-node, and 4-node Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA

• Four DAE for the 5-node, 6-node, 7-node, and 8-node Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA



Storage layer hardware

Storage resources

The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA utilizes the following storage resources:

• RAID packs

• Disk array enclosure packs

RAID packs

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA supports RAID 5, which:

• Provides block-level striping with a single parity block, where the parity data is distributed across all of the drives in the set

• Offers the best mix of performance, protection, and economy

• Has a higher write performance penalty than RAID 1/0 because multiple I/Os are required to perform a single write

• Sustains a single drive failure with single parity, with no data loss, but is vulnerable to data loss or unrecoverable read errors on a track during a drive rebuild

• Provides the highest economy of the three supported RAID levels with 80 percent of raw capacity useable

The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA uses 2.5-inch, 300 GB and 600 GB, SAS drives. The 4-node Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA has five (4 data + 1 parity) drives. The 8-node Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA has nine (8 data + 1 parity) drives.

Disk array enclosure packs

The number of nodes in a Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA determines the number of RAID packs and the number of EMC VNX 5300 DAEs required (DAEs are added in packs).

The following table lists the number of DAEs in the pack for each configuration of the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA:

Configuration Number of DAEs in the DAE pack

2-node, 3-node, and 4-node 2 (base includes DPE as the first DAE) 5-node, 6-node, 7-node, and 8-node 4 (base includes DPE as the first DAE)

The DAEs used in Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA are 25 drive 3U enclosures for 2.5-inch form factor drives.


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Storage layer hardware VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® software Architecture Overview

Internal NFS access

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA presents NFS file systems to internal clients only to provide shared file access to the HANA nodes in a scale-out cluster.



Network layer hardware

Network layer hardware

Network overview

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA utilizes a segregated networking architecture. Two Cisco Nexus 5548UP switches connect the fabric interconnects in the compute layer to the X-Blades in the storage layer and provide connectivity to the AMP through redundant connections to the Cisco Catalyst 3560X Ethernet switches in the HA AMP. Two Cisco MDS 9148 switches in each EMC VNX 5300 provide FC links between the Cisco Fabric Interconnects and the EMC VNX array. These FC connections provide block level devices to blades in the compute layer.

Refer to Management hardware components for information about the HA AMP.

IP network components

The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA includes two Cisco Nexus 5548UP switches to provide 10 GbE connectivity:

• Between the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA internal components

• To the site network

• To the AMP through redundant connections to the two Cisco Catalyst 3560 Ethernet switches in the AMP

The two Cisco Nexus 5548UP switches used by the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA support low latency line-rate 10 GbE and FCoE connectivity on up to 32 ports. A unified port expansion module provides an extra 16 ports of 10 GbE or FC connectivity. The ports are licensed in packs of eight in an on-demand basis.


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Network layer hardware VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® software Architecture Overview

Storage switching components

Each Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA includes two Cisco fabric switches. In a segregated model, there are two Cisco MDS 9148 multilayer fabric switches. In a unified networking model, FC based features are provided by the two Cisco Nexus 5548UP switches.

Note: Inter-Switch Links (ISLs) to a customer's existing SAN are not permitted.

Each Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA contains two Cisco MDS 9148 switches. Each switch provides 48 line-rate ports for non-blocking 8 GB/s throughput. Sixteen ports on each switch are active with the 4-node configuration using 12 of these ports for storage FC traffic and with the 8-node configuration using 16 ports.

Each Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch provides 32 line-rate ports for non-blocking 8 GB/s throughput.

Refer to IP network components for more information.



Management components


Management hardware components

The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA includes a high availability Advanced Management Pod (HA AMP). The HA AMP provides a single management point for the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA to enable the following benefits:

• Monitors and manages Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA health, performance, and capacity

• Provides fault isolation for management

• Eliminates resource overhead on Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA

• Provides a clear demarcation point for remote operations

The HA AMP occupies six rack units (RUs) in CNS 2 and includes:

• Two Cisco UCS C220 servers

• One Cisco Catalyst 3560X Ethernet Switch

• One EMC VNXe3150


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Management components VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® software Architecture Overview

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.x

The VMware vSphere ESXi 5.x runs in the HA AMP. This lightweight hypervisor requires very little space to run (less than 6 GB of storage required to install) and has minimal management overhead. VMware vSphere ESXi 5.x does not contain a console operating system; it is booted from a dedicated SAN volume to provide stateless computing within Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA.

Cluster configuration in the HA AMP

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.x hosts and their resources are pooled together into clusters. These clusters contain the CPU, memory, network, and storage resources available for allocation to virtual machines. Clusters can scale up to a maximum of 32 hosts. Clusters can support thousands of virtual machines.

The clusters can also support a variety of Cisco UCS blades running inside the same cluster.

Note: Some advanced CPU functionality might be unavailable if more than one blade model is running in a given cluster.

Data stores

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA supports file-level storage using NFS. VCE optimizes the advanced settings for VMware vSphere ESXi hosts deployed in Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA to maximize the throughput and scalability of NFS data stores. Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA currently supports a maximum of 256 NFS data stores per host.

VMware vCenter Server

VMware vCenter Server is a central management point for the hypervisors and virtual machines. VMware vCenter is installed on a 64-bit Windows Server and runs as a service.

The AMP and the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA each have a unified VMware vCenter Server instance and an accompanying instance of VMware Update Manager. These assist with upgrades and host patch management. VMware Update Manager is installed on a separate Windows Server and runs as a Windows service. Each of these systems resides in the AMP.

VMware vCenter Server provides the following functionality:

• Cloning of virtual machines

• Creating templates

• VMware vMotion and VMware Storage vMotion

• Initial configuration of DRS and VMware vSphere high availability clusters




VMware vCenter Server also provides monitoring and alerting capabilities for hosts and virtual machines. Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA administrators can create and apply alarms to all managed objects in VMware vCenter Server. These alarms include:

• Data center, cluster and host health, inventory, and performance

• Data store health and capacity

• Virtual machine usage, performance, and health

• Virtual network usage and health

Databases

The back-end database that supports VMware vCenter Server is remote Microsoft SQL Server 2008 SP3. Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA also supports the use of Oracle databases for vCenter. The SQL Server service requires a dedicated service account.

Authentication

Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA supports the integration of client-side Active Directory for authentication. This may be implemented by the customer, according to VMware best practices, and is based on the individual needs of the customer’s security and directory services environments.

Technical Support assistance for Active Directory (AD) is provided by the AD vendor. VCE does not provide assistance with Active Directory.


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Management components VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® software Architecture Overview

Advanced Management Pod tools

This topic lists the AMP tools available on Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA.

AMP tools

Each AMP is delivered pre-configured with the following tools:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard R2 x64 (six licenses per Cisco UCS Blade)

• VMware vSphere Server Enterprise Plus

• VMware vSphere ESXi 5.x, vCenter Server, vCenter Database using Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard, vCenter Update Manager, and vCenter client

• Cisco Catalyst 3560 switch

• Array management modules, including but not limited to, VMware vSphere Server Enterprise Plus, VMware ESXi 5.x, VMware vCenter Server, Cisco UCS Manager, EMC Unisphere Manager, EMC VNX Local Protection Suite, EMS VNX Remote Protection Suite, and EMC VNX Application Protection Suite

• Cisco Data Center Network Manager

• System administration utilities such as PuTTY, TFTP Server, Java, and so on



Cabinets

Cabinets

Cabinets overview

The compute, storage, and network layer components are distributed within two or more 19-inch 42U cabinets. Distributing the components in this manner balances the power draw and reduces the size of the power outlet units (POUs) that are required. Refer to Power options.

Compute/network/storage (CNS) cabinets contain compute, storage, and networking components. The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA consists of two CNS cabinets, designated CNS 1 and CNS 2. Each cabinet conforms to a standard predefined layout. Space is reserved for specific components even if they are not present or required for the customer configuration.

The CNS cabinets used for the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA are designed to be installed next to one another within the data center (that is, contiguously). If a customer requires the base and expansion cabinets to be physically separated, customized cabling is needed, which incurs additional cost and delivery delays.

Note: The cable length is NOT the same as distance between the cabinets. The cable must route through the cabinets and through the cable channels overhead or in the floor.

Power options

The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA supports several power outlet unit (POU) options inside and outside of North America.

North America power options

The following table lists the POUs that are available for the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA in North America. The NEMA POU is standard; other POUs add time to the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA assembly and delivery.

POU Power specifications

NEMA L15-30P 3-phase delta / 30A / 208V IEC 60309 EC 309 3P4W Splashproof 460P9S

3-phase delta / 60A / 208V

IEC 60309 IEC309 2P3W Splashproof 360P6S

Single phase / 60A / 208V

NEMA L6-30P Single phase / 30A / 208V


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Cabinets VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® software Architecture Overview

Power options outside of North America

The following table lists the POUs that are available for the Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA outside of North America. The IEC 309 POU is standard; other POUs add time to Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA assembly and delivery.

POU Power specifications

IEC 309 32A 3P+N+PE IEC 309 4P5W Splashproof 532P6S

3-phase wye / 32A / 230V / 400V

IEC 60309 3P+N+ E IEC 309 4P5W Splashproof 516P6S

3-phase wye / 16A / 230V / 400V

IEC 60309 2P+E IEC 309 2P3W Splashproof 332P6S

Single phase / 32A / 230V

The Vblock Specialized System for SAP HANA Physical Planning Guide provides more information about power requirements. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.



Additional references


References overview

Use the following links to access documentation provided by Cisco, EMC, VMware, and SAP for each of the product lines that are discussed in this document:

• Compute

• Network

• Storage

• SAP HANA software

Compute components

Product Description Link to documentation

Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnects

Provide line-rate, low-latency, lossless, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), and Fibre Channel functions. They provide network connectivity and management capabilities.

www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11544/index.html

Cisco UCS 2208XP Fabric Extenders

Bring the unified fabric into the blade server enclosure, providing multiple 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections between blade servers and the fabric interconnect, simplifying diagnostics, cabling, and management.

www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps10265/ps10276/data_sheet_c78-675243.html

Cisco UCS 5108 Server Chassis

Supports up to four full-width blade servers and up to two fabric extenders in a six rack unit (RU) enclosure.


Cisco UCS B-440 M2 Blade Servers

Adapt to application demands, intelligently scale energy use, and offer best-in-class virtualization.


Cisco UCS C220 Rack Servers

Deliver unified computing in an industry-standard form factor to reduce total cost of ownership and increase agility. Each product addresses varying workload challenges through a balance of processing, memory, I/O, and internal storage resources.


Cisco UCS Manager

Provides centralized management capabilities for the Cisco Unified Computing System.



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http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11544/index.html

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps10265/ps10276/data_sheet_c78-675243.html

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps10265/ps10276/data_sheet_c78-675243.html





Additional references VCE Vblock™ Specialized System for SAP HANA® software Architecture Overview

Network components


Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric switch

Provides 48 line-rate 8 Gigabits per second ports and offers cost-effective scalability through on-demand activation of ports


Cisco Nexus 5548 Series switches

Simplify data center transformation by enabling a standards-based, high-performance unified fabric


Storage components


EMC VNX 5300 storage arrays

High-performing unified storage with unsurpassed simplicity and efficiency, optimized for virtual applications

www.emc.com/products/series/vnx-series.htm

SAP HANA software


SAP HANA Platform

SAP HANA is a modern in-memory platform that is deployable as an on-premise appliance or in the cloud. As an appliance, SAP HANA combines software components from SAP optimized on proven hardware provided by SAP’s hardware partners. In the cloud, SAP HANA is offered as a comprehensive infrastructure combined with managed services.

help.sap.com/hana




http://www.emc.com/products/series/vnx-series.htm

http://help.sap.com/hana



ABOUT VCE

VCE, formed by Cisco and EMC with investments from VMware and Intel, accelerates the adoption of converged infrastructure and cloud-based computing models that dramatically reduce the cost of IT while improving time to market for our customers. VCE, through Vblock Systems, delivers the industry's only fully integrated and fully virtualized cloud infrastructure system. VCE solutions are available through an extensive partner network, and cover horizontal applications, vertical industry offerings, and application development environments, allowing customers to focus on business innovation instead of integrating, validating, and managing IT infrastructure.

For more information, go to www.vce.com.

© 2014 VCE Company, LLC. All rights reserved. VCE, VCE Vision, Vblock, and the VCE logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of VCE Company, LLC, and/or its affiliates in the United States or other countries. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.


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vce vblock™ specialized system for sap hana® software

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