Dell EMC PowerEdge servers with the latest Intel Xeon CPUs in combination with Intel Optane memory can lower the TCO for SAP HANA environments and increase the overall memory capacity within a machine.

Intel Optane memory on SAP HANA enables up to 15 TB of data to be stored within one four-socket server beyond the physical capabilities of DRAM. SAP HANA supports persistent memory (PMEM) in App Direct mode, but not in Memory mode.

Memory limits are as follows:

• Two-socket systems—12 x 512 GB = 6 TB PMEM + 12 x 128 GB = 1.5 TB DRAM, yielding 7.5 TB.
• Four-socket systems—24 x 512 GB = 12 TB PMEM + 24 x 128 GB = 3 TB DRAM, yielding 15 TB.

Note: PMEM works only with SAP HANA certified Cascade Lake servers.

Currently, SAP HANA supports three operating system versions with PMEM:

• SLES 12 SP4—Certified for PowerEdge R940, R840, R740, and R740xd servers by Dell for Cascade Lake.
• SLES 15—Certified for PowerEdge R940, R940xa, R840, R740, R740xd, R640, MX740c, and MX840c servers.
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6 and 8—Certified for PowerEdge R940, R940xa, R840, R740, R740xd, R640, MX740c, and MX840c servers. For support details for specific versions and solutions, see SAP Note: KB3830541.

For more information about Intel Optane memory, see SAP Note 2700084: FAQ: SAP HANA Persistent Memory (access requires login credentials).

CPU and memory requirements

All Cascade Lake CPUs with Xeon Gold or higher are compatible with Intel Optane memory. The specific processor needs depend on the total memory size (Intel Optane + DRAM). The CPU supports a specific memory size.

The following tables describe the minimum CPU requirements. Depending on performance needs, you might prefer a higher version, for example, Intel Xeon Platinum.

Table 5.           Minimum CPU memory requirements

Intel Optane for SAP HANA can be used in two-socket or four-socket systems, as described in the following tables:

Table 6.           Systems with PMEM and two sockets populated

Table 7.           Systems with PMEM and four sockets populated

Sizing recommendations for storage with PMEM

You can use any internal storage or certified Dell EMC SAP HANA external storage. For more information, see the disk sizing requirements for scale-up systems in SAP HANA TDI-Storage Requirements.

Scale-out systems are more complex, as described in the following table:

Table 8.           Recommended storage sizes for scale-out systems