SUSE Linux Adds Support for Intel Persistent Memory on SAP HANA

Businesses running SUSE Enterprise Linux Server for SAP Applications now will have support for Intel Optane persistent memory to further increase the performance of their SAP HANA workloads.

The new support for Intel Optane DC (data center) persistent memory is included in the latest SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 Service Pack 4, which is now available worldwide.

The use of persistent memory means that server reboots can be done without losing data from memory, boosting uptime and performance, Raj Meel, global product marketing manager for SUSE, told Channel Futures.

SUSE’s Raj Meel

SUSE has been working to provide these capabilities at the operating system level since 2016, said Meel. For data-center managers, costs savings is one big advantage. This stems from being able to reduce infrastructure that was formerly required to move data in and out of memory, he said.

The SUSE Enterprise Linux for SAP Applications release is built specifically to help customers who run SAP workloads in their data centers, Meel wrote in a blog.

SUSE revealed the latest features to its partners in December when it made the latest version generally available. Any partners selling and supporting SUSE Enterprise Linux for SAP Applications will gain the benefits of the new capabilities, he added.

By running Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications, SUSE says SAP HANA users can now take advantage of high-capacity Intel Optane DC persistent memory in the data center. The benefits also include optimizing workloads by moving and maintaining larger amounts of data closer to the processor and minimizing the higher latency of fetching data from system storage during maintenance.

So far, direct support for Intel Optane DC persistent memory is available in beta from multiple cloud service providers and hardware vendors.

SUSE’s Thomas Di Giacomo

“Persistent memory technology will spark new applications for data access and storage,” said Thomas Di Giacomo, SUSE CTO. “By offering a fully supported solution built on Intel Optane DC persistent memory, businesses can take greater advantage of the performance of SAP HANA.”

By partnering with SAP and Intel on these capabilities, SUSE is working to help customers around the world who are looking to fuel growth by transforming their IT infrastructure, said Di Giacomo.

Intel’s Optane DC persistent memory represents a new class of memory and storage technology built specifically for data-center use, said Alper Ilkbahar, vice president and general manager of Intel’s non-volatile memory and storage solutions group.

“This new memory class is designed to enable cost-effective, large-capacity, in-memory database solutions, help provide greater system uptime and faster recovery after power cycles, and deliver higher-performance, cloud-scale applications,” said Ilkbahar. “By working together with SUSE and SAP to bring this transformative technology to our customers, we can help enable them to take advantage of a whole new generation of applications and services that can deliver revolutionary capabilities for the datacentric era.”

SAP HANA (High-Speed Analytical Appliance) is an in-memory database platform that can be deployed on premises or in the cloud. It uses in-memory computing to store compressed data in random access memory (RAM), rather than storing it in relational databases on disk drives. Compared to accessing data on standard disks, SAP HANA can access in-memory data 10,000 times faster. That means companies can rapidly analyze large amounts of data and process transactions in seconds rather than hours.