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17 Jun 2025Form Number
LP2233PDF size
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Abstract
As virtualization technologies become ever more commonplace even in the database segment, this brief outlines the SUSE Enterprise Linux alternative to existing proprietary solutions for SAP HANA.
Introduction
Virtualized SAP HANA systems are now supported for production with SUSE Enterprise Linux Server (SLES).
The KVM virtualization included with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Unlimited Virtualization is available for SAP HANA databases in production.
Support now extends to Lenovo ThinkSystem V3 servers with 4th Gen (Sapphire Rapids) and 5th Gen (Emerald Rapids) processors.
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What has SUSE announced?
- Intel 4th Gen (Sapphire Rapids) 2-socket and 4-socket servers are SAP HANA supported with KVM SLES for SAP 15 SP5
- Intel 5th Gen (Emerald Rapids) 2-socket servers are SAP HANA supported with KVM SLES for SAP 15 SP5
- Minimum SLES KVM VM is 1 CPU, 128 GiB, 8 physical cores
- Maximum SLES KVM VM on 4th Gen (Sapphire Rapids) is 4 CPUs, 8 TiB of memory, 240 physical cores (480 vCPUs)
- Maximum SLES KVM VM on 5th Gen (Emerald Rapids) is 2 CPUs, 4 TiB of memory, 128 physical cores (256 vCPUs)
- OLAP VMs maximum on 2- and 4-socket servers:
- 2-socket: 3 TiB (Class L workload), 4 TiB (Class M workload)
- 4-socket: 8 TiB (Class L workload)
- Supported with any type of storage: internal disk, external NFS or Fibre Channel SAN storage based on either SAS or NVMe flash technology. Lenovo SAP Solutions development has carried out benchmarking to provide you with the optimal storage strategy for your SAP landscape. Consult with your Lenovo sales representative or Lenovo LETS team for custom sizings.
- Multi-VM is supported so up to 2 VMs can be deployed in parallel on 2-socket servers
Up to 4 VMs can be deployed in parallel on 4-socket servers - Full socket VMs are supported
- 8-socket servers and future CPU generation certifications are on the SUSE roadmap
- HANA VMs may span over 1, 2, 3, or 4 sockets.
Figure 1. SAP HANA VMs may span over 1, 2, 3, or 4 sockets
Virtualization comparison
Positioning table for SUSE virtualization when compared to alternative strategies
Technical considerations
Similar to other technologies, SUSE virtualization requires that a degree of overhead be taken into account:
- The hypervisor will consume CPU capacity, approximately 5% to 10%, depending on the workload characteristics:
- 5% of the CPU capacity for mainly analytical workloads.
- 10% of the CPU capacity for mainly transactional workloads.
Technical guide on migrating workloads
Lenovo SAP Solutions development has also written a technical guide to help with migrating SAP workloads based on vSphere VMs into KVM based virtual images.
If you are interesting in receiving a copy please contact Lenovo's SAP Center of Competency sapsolutions@lenovo.com.
Why Lenovo
Lenovo ThinkSystem servers are particularly well suited to demanding SAP workloads due to the excellent performance, security features and industry-leading reliability.
Lenovo ThinkSystem holds many of the world record benchmarks for SAP HANA Business Warehouse.
Lenovo has been collaborating with SAP for over 20 years and has shipped over 50,000 SAP HANA systems worldwide in this period.
There are a broad range of wrap-around Lenovo services available for SAP environments including professional deployment services, ongoing managed services and health checks.
Lenovo TruScale IaaS offers an opex-based cloud consumption model for on-premises infrastructure.
More information
Consult with Lenovo's SAP Center of Competency sapsolutions@lenovo.com for more details of the SUSE virtualization solution.
The team can provide sizing, custom briefings and architectural guidance for virtualizing SAP landscapes including SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business Warehouse on HANA and assistance with many other SAP related topics.
Trademarks
Lenovo and the Lenovo logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both. A current list of Lenovo trademarks is available on the Web at https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/legal/copytrade/.
The following terms are trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both:
Lenovo®
ThinkSystem®
The following terms are trademarks of other companies:
Intel® is a trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries.
Linux® is the trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.
Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.
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