SAP HANA Do's and Don'ts - Updated

During the past years of being involved with SAP HANA implementations all over the world I compiled a list of high level do's and don'ts for SAP HANA Operations. One of the main goals of this list is to prevent SAP HANA implementations going down an incorrect path.

·    Only validated hardware systems from the hardware partners can be used with SAP HANA, and they come pre-installed with HANA software:

• SAP HANA is installed by hardware partners listed in the SAP HANA Platform Availability Matrix (PAM)
• In some scenario's it is possible to use corporate storage with SAP HANA: https://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-60328
• Virtualization options of SAP HANA and FAQ are documented in note: https://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1788665
• For the latest on the SAP HANA in the Data Center topic: https://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-60341
• Set up a service connection early in the project so SAP Support can access the instance for ticket processing
• SAP recommends a dedicated server network communication of 10 GBit/s between the SAP HANA landscape and the source system for efficient data replication (https://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1514967).
• For Production instances of the SAP HANA database ensure log_mode parameter is set to 'normal'
• Use a time service like NTP to ensure connected components are in sync (for example scale-out nodes and ERP or BW on HANA)
• Follow database backup options as documented in the Administration Guide:
  SAP HANA Administration Guide
• For scheduling SAP HANA backup & restore consider note https://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1651055
• In a Data Mart scenario perform a full SAP HANA database backup after performing an initial load with a replication tool, and schedule a regular backup after the initial load.
• Never delete SAP HANA log volumes on the file system (yes, this actually happens regularly)
• For landscape deployment planning options like combining scenario's, multi-SID decisions, and BW specific considerations, follow the latest version of notes:
  • Multiple SAP HANA databases on one appliance: https://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1681092
  • Support for multiple applications on SAP HANA: https://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1661202
  • BW on SAP HANA - landscape deployment planning: https://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1666670

Feedback is appreciated!