FAQ

SAP HANA multitenant database containers

Contact: Jörg Hoffmeister, SAP SE

Last edited: December 9, 2016

Contents
FAQ ....................................................................................................................................................1
SAP HANA multitenant database containers .......................................................................................1
General Information ...........................................................................................................................1
Provisioning ........................................................................................................................................3
Resource Management .......................................................................................................................3
Database Isolation ..............................................................................................................................4
Cross-Database Access ........................................................................................................................4
High Availability & Disaster Recovery ..................................................................................................5
Backup & Recovery .............................................................................................................................5
Application Scenarios on MDC ............................................................................................................5

General Information

Q: Is there a maximum number of tenant DBs besides the hardware limits?

A: There is no fixed limit. The current recommendation is to start with few tenants per system and
then increase, each tenant comes with an initial footprint of ~10GB. According to the port
distribution algorithm there is a current theoretical limit of around 2000 tenant databases. This
number shrinks if additional services are added to the tenants.

Q: How do licenses work? Can you have enterprise and runtime licenses running in the same box
with different use cases?

A: The HANA MDC system itself just carries one license. All other license combination are
negotiated/calculated regarding the usage type. There can be a mix of runtime and platform licenses.
SAP’s software use rights define the allowed scope of use.

Q: Is still the default SAP HANA deployment still available (one SID, one DB), or is MDC
automatically deployed?

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A: At some point in the HANA 2.0 cycle MDC will become the default set up including smooth
migration and guidance. Right now, the default setup stays single DB – converting to an MDC system
must be manually invoked.

Q: Is it possible to have tenant DBs in one SAP HANA multitenant database container with different
revisions?

A: No. All tenant DBs will run the same SAP HANA revision. There is only one software stack.

Q: Is MDC available for both scale-up and scale-out?

A: Yes.

Q: In a scale-out scenario do all tenants DBs needs to be distributed, or can one tenant reside on its
own in a single node?

A: All options for distributing tenant DBs across scale out nodes are supported, including the choice
not to distribute.

Q: Does each tenant DBs have its own System ID (SID) or do they run under one SID?

A: There is one SID for the entire SAP HANA MDC system.

Q: Is it possible revert an MDC system to a single DB system?

A: No

Q: Can MDC be deployed on an SAP HANA system where virtualization (e.g. VMware or others) is
deployed?

A: Yes. It is supported to run MDC on an SAP HANA production system with virtualization.

Q: Does each tenant DB have its own file systems/storage per tenant?

A: Presently each tenant database has its own data files, log files, and .ini files, but shares file systems
with the other tenant DBs.

Q: In order to update to a new SAP HANA revision, must all tenant DB's be stopped?

A: Yes. But you may choose a system replication set-up where the secondary already runs on a new
HANA revision – so to say the system transfers to the new revision with near zero downtime

Q: Can you have dedicated network ports per tenant?

A: Ports will be automatically assigned when a tenant DB is deployed according to a predefined

approach. A special technique is utilized to avoid running out of port numbers. Ports can also be
explicitly assigned according to the port schema policy. Please refer to documentation.

Q: Can different tenants run individual versions of AFL (like PAL)

A: That is not yet possible. The AFL currently is provided on system level thus there is just one. Each
tenant database can decide about to load it or not.

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Provisioning

Q: Is it possible to copy/move a tenant DB to another SAP HANA multitenant database container?

A: Yes, a tenant DB can be moved to another SAP HANA multitenant database container via
replication. The tenant database is copied with all of its data to a newly created tenant database. The
original tenant could be deleted after takeover completion (move).

Q: Is it possible to copy/move a tenant DB to another host inside the same SAP HANA multitenant
database container system?

A: Yes, a tenant DB can be copied to another host also via backup and recovery.

Q: Is it possible to move or copy a tenant DB to another SAP HANA system that has a different
revision?

A: A tenant DB can be moved or copied to a different MDC system with a higher or equal revision
number. Moving from a newer revision system to an older one is not supported.

Q: Is it possible to transport data from one tenant DB to another?

A: Yes. Using the export/import functionality you can easily transport data between tenant DBs.

Q: Is it possible to copy a tenant database between X86 and POWER architecture?

A: Starting with HANA 2.0, POWER architecture runs in ‘little endian’ mode and a tenant database
can be copied between X86 and POWER architecture.

Resource Management

Q: Can adjustments of CPU/memory allocation be done automatically?

A: Resource management currently requires manual administrator intervention. Automation is

under consideration for the roadmap.

Q: When making CPU/Memory allocation changes, do we need to shutdown database?

A: Shutdown is not necessary for most resource parameter changes, simply add the WITH
RECONFIGURE clause. Pinning cores to tenant databases require a restart (setting CPU Affinity).

Q: Can we over-commit CPU/Memory resources?

A: It is not (yet) recommended to over-allocate memory and CPU core resources.

Q: Can you allow all tenants to share CPU + memory, allowing for possible contention for
resources?

A: Yes.

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Q: Where can we specify the workload parameters for CPU/Memory?

A: Refer to the documentation regarding the parameters max_concurrency, affinity and

allocation_limit. These parameters can be adjusted in the administration perspective of the SAP
HANA studio, or by issuing SQL statements in the SQL editor.

Q: Is I/O bandwidth also managed per tenant?

A. Functionality for managing I/O throughput per tenant database is not yet available, but is under
consideration for the MDC roadmap. Backup I/O can be controlled by buffer limitation.

Database Isolation

Q: How many Database Isolation levels has the SAP HANA multitenant container?

A: There are two levels: low and high. The default level isolation is low. You can specify the isolation
level during the installation. It is also possible to change the level isolation by existing system (low to
high, high to low) in any time. The isolation setting always applies all tenant databases of an MDC
system.

Q: Does the SAP HANA dynamic tiering (DT) work with the Database Isolation?

A: The SAP HANA dynamic tiering works only with the low level Database Isolation. If the Database
Isolation has been configured to ‘high’, the dynamic tiering service stops working. Each tenant that is
planned to work with dynamic tiering requires an additional DT host.

Q: Is native SAP HANA development (e.g. using XS) isolated per tenant DB and secured?

A: Yes. Each tenant DB has its own repository, its own users, and is secure. (HANA 1.0, XS Classic)

Cross-Database Access

Q: Is Smart Data Access supported across tenant databases?

A: SDA is supported across tenant databases; however MDC offers native cross database access
which has significant performance benefits, as connections are made internally/directly between
tenants.

Q: How can I enable cross-tenant DB queries?

A: Cross-tenant DB access must be explicitly set up and enabled. A mapping of users in the relevant
tenant DBs is required. Refer to the documentation for more information.

Q: Is there workload management for cross-tenant DB queries?

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A: In general, the memory and CPU allocation settings are relevant for whichever tenant DB performs
the query’s data-intensive operations. Starting with SPS12 the workload classes of the data owning
user are inherited.

Q: How can a cross-database access be established on a system?

A: For accessing data in another tenant you may use SDA smart data access (application layer) or
cross-database-access (multitenant layer).
Whereas SDA does not require configuration measures, MDC cross-tenant database access (Read
only) must be explicitly set up and enabled on database. Mappings of users in the relevant tenant as
well as a proper security concept are absolutely required. Follow the documentation.

High Availability & Disaster Recovery

Q: Is HA/DR available per tenant DB?

A: HA/DW (e.g. system replication, storage replication) – works with an “all or nothing” approach –
all tenant DBs are subject to failover to other data center. Once HA/DR is setup, any changes to
existing tenant DB configuration or additions/deletions of tenant DBs requires setting up entire
HA/DR scenario all over again

Backup & Recovery

Q: Is it possible to use a data backup from a non-MDC system and recover it into a tenant
database?

A: No (HANA 1.0) The source backup has to be taken from an MDC system, thus from a tenant.
database.
YES (HANA 2.0). A backup of a single database can be restored directly to a tenant database.

Q: Is it possible to recover a tenant DB using Point in Time Recovery.

A: Yes. A tenant DB can be recovered to a point in time.

Q: Is it possible to recover a SAP HANA multitenant database container or tenant DB using storage
snapshots.

A: No, for the time being this is not possible.

Application Scenarios on MDC

Q: Can we have SAP Business Suite and SAP BW combined on one SAP HANA system in separate
tenants?

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A: It is supported to run SAP Business Suite and SAP BW on the same production SAP HANA system.
An additive sizing approach is needed: perform a sizing estimation for each and then add them
together (and avoid underestimating). For CPU core and memory ratio aspects, the features for
allocating memory and influencing CPU core utilization per tenant can be utilized.

Q: Do the restrictions of the white lists of note 1661202 and 1826100 still apply with an MDC
system?

A: The restrictions of the "White List" do not apply when each application, component, or scenario is
deployed on its own tenant DB in an MDC system. However, with an MDC system, the restrictions of
the White List are relevant when considering which applications, components, and/or scenarios can
be deployed together on the same tenant DB in a manner that is supported by SAP. In other
words, with an MDC system it is supported (for example) to run SAP ERP and SAP BW on the same
production SAP HANA system, each one its own tenant DB. However, it is not supported to run SAP
ERP and SAP BW on the same tenant DB due to white list restrictions.