Whitepaper

EMC DATA DOMAIN BOOST FOR SAP HANA

A technical review
Release number 1.0

H13113.0

May, 2014

u Abstract..................................................................................................................... 2
u Executive summary.................................................................................................... 2
u Introduction............................................................................................................... 3
u EMC Data Domain Boost - advanced integration with SAP HANA.................................4
u Conclusion.................................................................................................................9
Whitepaper

Abstract
EMC offers database administrators (DBAs) advanced integration between EMC Data
Domain Boost™ (DD Boost™), and SAP HANA. This integration provides complete control
of the following components in an SAP HANA environment:
u SAP HANA backups
u SAP HANA recoveries and offsite disaster recoveries
u SAP HANA Studio
This paper discusses how the integration of the Data Domain Boost for Databases and
Applications (DDBDA) and SAP HANA creates a superior backup solution for SAP HANA
environments. The term DD Boost for SAP HANA in this white paper, refers to the
functionality within DDBDA that provides SAP HANA support.

Executive summary
SAP HANA is an in-memory data platform that you can deploy as an on-premise
appliance, or in the cloud. SAP HANA is a ground-breaking platform that is best suited to
the performance of real-time analytics, and the development and deployment of real-time
applications. At the core of this real-time data platform is the SAP HANA database that is
fundamentally different than any other database engine in the market today.
Many IT organizations perform SAP HANA database backups on a nightly basis to meet
their backup and recovery window requirements. Most businesses store these backups
for thirty days or more. Unfortunately, this leads to rapid growth in backup storage, which
has resulted in the continued use of legacy tape systems as the default solution for
database backups. This reliance on tape for backup storage can limit the number of
backups that a business can perform and negatively impact recovery point objectives
(RPOs).
Additionally, organizations constantly challenge SAP HANA administrators to improve
recovery time objectives (RTOs). The process of recovering SAP HANA databases from a
previous backup, then rolling a large number of archive/redo logs forward is time
consuming and complex. However, recovering the database in the shortest possible time
is essential to business operations.
The solution
EMC Data Domain deduplication storage systems continue to revolutionize disk backup,
archiving, and disaster recovery with high-speed, inline deduplication. EMC first offered
DBAs the ability to use RMAN integration with DD Boost to backup and recover Oracle
databases. EMC has now taken the next step in DBA empowerment by integrating SAP
HANA BACKINT Interface with Data Domain systems. The result of this integration is the
DD Boost for Databases and Applications product.
SAP HANA only supports full database backups. When you use Data Domain
deduplication systems as the backup device for SAP HANA data, the deduplication
process stores only unique data on the backup device and streamlines the backup
process. The efficiency of a Data Domain system combined with the benefits of DD Boost,
dramatically reduces the amount of data transferred to and stored on the Data Domain
system.
DBAs and application owners can continue to seamlessly use existing, familiar workflows
offered by SAP HANA Studio and Command Line Interface (CLI) scripts. This allows the
backup process to store the backup in a format that a centralized backup application can
understand and use for operations such as centralized cataloging, cloning, retention, and
tape-out. This unique and powerful integration gives DBAs and application owners the

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 ability to control their own backup and recovery procedures and write the data directly to
Protection Storage. The results are simplicity, improved performance, lower capital
expenditure, and lower operational expenditure for the line of business owners.

Introduction
The purpose of this white paper is to discuss how the DD Boost for SAP HANA software
provides a unique and a powerful integration between SAP HANA database backups and
Data Domain systems. The goal of the DD Boost for SAP HANA software is to better serve
database administrators by empowering them with the tools that provide them with
superior data protection.
Audience
The white paper is intended for SAP HANA database administrators, systems engineers,
partners, and members of the EMC and Partner Professional Services community who are
looking for more control of their applications, faster and more efficient backups, and
more flexible data protection solutions.

Background

SAP HANA backup and recovery

An SAP HANA database holds most of the data in memory but also uses persistent
storage on disk.
During normal database operations SAP HANA automatically performs the following
tasks:
u Saves the data from memory to the disk at regular intervals.
u Captures all of the data changes in redo logs.
u Saves the redo log to disk after each committed database transaction.
To protect against disk failure and provide the ability to revert a database back to an
earlier point in time, DBAs must ensure that a backup of the data area and the log area on
the disk exists. Traditionally, backup solutions direct backups of SAP HANA data and log
areas to a local or NFS mounted file system.

EMC Data Domain deduplication storage systems

Data Domain Deduplication Storage Systems offer a cost-effective alternative to tape
devices because Data Domain Deduplication Storage Systems allow users to enjoy the
benefits of inline deduplication and network-efficient replication over the wide area
network (WAN) for disaster recovery (DR).
Data Domain deduplication storage systems store only unique data on the disk, which
has the following benefits:
u Reduces the amount of disk storage that you need to retain and protect data by 10 to
30 times.
u Enables you to keep the data on the disk online and onsite for longer retention
periods.
u Improves the speed and reliability of data restores.
u Allows more backups to complete faster and within backup windows.
All Data Domain systems are built as the data store of last resort, which is enabled by the
EMC Data Domain Data Invulnerability Architecture - end-to-end data verification,

Introduction 3
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continuous fault detection and self-healing, and other resiliency features transparent to
the application.
Data Domain Data Invulnerability Architecture (DIA) generates checksums
on the database server before SAP HANA sends data to the Data Domain system. The
Data Domain system receiving the data computes new checksums on the incoming data
and compares them to the computed values from the backup application, which results
in inline verification of data.
The EMC Data Domain Data Invulnerability Architecture: Enhancing Data Integrity and
Recoverability white paper provides more information about DIA.

EMC Data Domain Boost - advanced integration with SAP HANA

DD Boost for SAP HANA integrates with the SAP HANA BACKINT interface to backup and
recover SAP HANA databases and redo log files. The SAP HANA BACKINT agent enables
DD Boost for SAP HANA to directly connect to the HANA database.
When a backup starts, the following actions occur:
u The SAP HANA database server invokes the backint agent. The backint agent
implements the BACKINT API for SAP HANA through the hdbbackint process.
u The database server creates named pipes to send data to the backint agent.
u The backint agent reads the data from named pipes and transfers the backup data to
the Data Domain systems.
SAP fully certifies the integration of DD Boost for SAP HANA with BACKINT.
The following figure provides a high level overview of the components in an SAP HANA
environment that uses DD Boost for SAP HANA.
Figure 1 DD Boost with SAP HANA

You can use one of the following supported SAP HANA tools with DD Boost for SAP HANA
to perform backup and recovery operations in an SAP HANA environment:
u SAP HANA command line interface (CLI) and the hdbsql commands
u SAP HANA Studio GUI

DD Boost for SAP HANA features and capabilities

This section summarizes the features and capabilities for DD Boost for SAP HANA.
You can use the SAP HANA backup tools to perform the following operations:
u Online backups
u Full database backups
u Redo log backups

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 u Recovery of a database to one of the following conditions:
l Most recent state
l Specific point-in-time
l Specific data backup
u Recovery of a database to the original host or an alternate host
DD Boost for SAP HANA supports backups and recoveries in an SAP HANA scale-out
environment. To support SAP HANA scale-out solutions, after you set up the database
according to the SAP HANA documentation, you must install the DD Boost for SAP HANA
software on each node.

DD Boost for SAP HANA and Data Domain replication

EMC Data Domain Replicator provides automated, encrypted replication for disaster
recovery and multi-site backup and archive consolidation. The Data Domain Replicator
software asynchronously replicates only compressed, deduplicated data over a lan area
network (LAN).
DD Boost for SAP HANA does not initiate or monitor replication. However, the product can
restore from the replicated copy on a secondary Data Domain system if you used DD
Boost for SAP HANA to create the backup on a primary Data Domain system. A Data
Domain administrator configures the backup replication from the primary Data Domain
system to the secondary Data Domain system.

Performing SAP HANA backups

DDBoost for SAP HANA performs an online backup of the entire database
Before you begin
Before you can use DD Boost for SAP HANA to create backups, you must install the DD
Boost for SAP HANA software on each node in the SAP HANA solution.
After you install the DDBDA software, configure the DD Boost for SAP HANA software
according to the Product Configuration section in the EMC Data Domain Boost for
Databases and Applications Release 1.0 Administration Guide. During the configuration,
you will need to specify the DDBoost user, destination system, destination path, and if
required, the replication system.
To perform the backup, use SAP HANA Studio or the hdbdql command from the CLI. To
ensure that the backup leverages the DD Boost for SAP HANA software, ensure that you
copy hdbbackint binary to the location required by SAP HANA. The Data Domain Boost
for Databases and Applications Administration Guide provides more information.
The following figure provides an example of the SAP HANA Studio Backup Configuration
window.
Figure 2 Backup configuration window

To configure the automation of the SAP HANA redo logs perform the following steps on
the Backup Configuration window:

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u Select Enable Automatic Log Backup.

u In the Destination Type field, select Backint.
u Set the Log backup interval value to 30 minutes.
A DD Boost for SAP HANA backup performs the following tasks:
u The SAP HANA database server starts the hdbbackint program, and passes it a list
of pipes to backup.
u The hdbbackint program processes the DD Boost for SAP HANA parameters and
spawns child hdbbackint processes to the backup pipes.
u Each child hdbbackint reads the data from the pipe and sends the data to Data
Domain system.

Performing SAP HANA recoveries

With DD Boost for SAP HANA 1.0, you can only use SAP HANA Studio to perform a
database recovery and SAP HANA requires that you take the database offline before you
initiate a recovery operation.
If you used Data Domain Replicator to replicate the backup data, then when DD Boost for
SAP HANA detects that the primary Data Domain system is not available, DD Boost for
SAP HANA attempt to recover the data from the replicated Data Domain system. The DD
Boost for Databases and Applications Administrator Guide describes how to recover data
from the replicated Data Domain system.
You can perform four different types of recoveries with SAP HANA Studio:
u Recover the database to its most recent state. Select this recovery type to recover the
database to from a backup that is as close as possible to the current time. When you
select this option, the Select Data Backup window appears, which provides you with
an ability to select a backup and confirm that the backup is physically available to
recover.
u Recover the database to the following point in time. Select this recovery type to
recover the database to the specific point-in-time that you specify in the Date and
Time fields.
u Recover the database to a specific data backup. Select this recovery type to recover
only the specified data backup.
u Recover the database to the following log position. This option appears after you
select Advanced. Use this option in an exceptional case only when a previous
recovery has failed.
The following figure provides an example of Specify Recovery Type window in SAP HANA
Studio.

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 Figure 3 Specify Recovery Type window

Note

By default a recovery operation can run up to eight concurrent recovery data streams. To
change the number of concurrent recovery data streams, modify the parallelism value in
the SAP HANA configuration file. The EMC Data Domain Boost for Databases and
Applications Administration Guide provides more information.

Distributing the deduplication process

DD Boost Distributed Segment Processing uses the DD Boost library on the database
server and the DD Boost software on Data Domain system.
Before the integration of DD Boost, the backup application would send a full database
backup, to a Data Domain system for deduplication processing. The following figure
provides an overview of SAP HANA backups to a Data Domain system without the use of
DD Boost.
Figure 4 SAP HANA backups to a Data Domain system without DD Boost

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When you use Distributed Segment Processing, DD Boost for SAP HANA:
u Sends only unique data to the Data Domain system that you configured as a storage
server.
u Loads the DD Boost library during backup and recovery operations.
The following figure provides an overview of SAP HANA backups to a Data Domain system
with DD Boost.
Figure 5 SAP HANA backups to a Data Domain system with DD Boost

Distributed Segment Processing is important to the DD Boost and SAP HANA integration
solution because SAP HANA only supports Full Database backups today and the backup
process results in a significant amount of data sent to network.
Data Domain recommends that you use Distributed Segment Processing when you use a
1 GB Ethernet network connection. The Distributed Segment Processing feature provides
the following benefits:
u Increases backup throughput. The throughput improvements depend on the
redundant nature of the data being backed up, the overall workload on the database
server, and the database server capability. In general, greater throughput is attained
with higher redundancy, improved database server workload, and greater database
server capability.
u Decreases the network bandwidth requirements by up to 99%.
u Decreases the time to restart a failed backup. If a large backup fails in the middle or
towards the end and the user restarts the backup, then the backup operation does
not need to resend data that was already sent to the Data Domain system.
Distributed Segment Processing supports the following modes of operation when DD
Boost for SAP HANA sends backup data to a Data Domain system:
u Distributed segment processing enabled
u Distributed segment processing disabled
You must set the operation mode on the Data Domain system. DD Boost for SAP HANA
contacts the Data Domain system to determine the configuration of the Distributed
Segment Processing feature.

Advanced load balancing and link failover

This topic applies only if you use an Ethernet connection, not Fibre Channel, for backup
and restore operations with DD Boost for SAP HANA. The advanced load balancing and
link failover feature enables the combination of multiple Ethernet links into a group and
the registration of only one interface on the Data Domain system with DD Boost for SAP
HANA.
When you use a Data Domain system that has an interface group configured, the
following actions occur when you perform a backup or restore with DD Boost for SAP
HANA:

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 u DD Boost for SAP HANA negotiates a connection with the Data Domain system on the
registered interface.
u The Data Domain system receives the data, load balances the data transfer, and
distributes the data on all of the interfaces in the group.
The advanced load balancing and link failover feature has the following characteristics:
u Works at the DD Boost software layer
u Appears seamless to the underlying network connection
u Support both physical and virtual interfaces
The load balancing feature provides greater physical throughput to the Data Domain
system than when you use Ethernet Link Aggregation to configure the interfaces into a
virtual interface.
The advanced load balancing and link failover functionality works with other network
layer functionality on the Data Domain systems, including VLAN tagging and IP aliasing.
The EMC Data Domain Operating System Initial Configuration Guide provides more
information about how to configure VLAN tagging. EMC Data Domain Operating System
Administration Guide provides more information about how to configure IP aliasing.

DD Boost over Fibre Channel

DD OS release 5.3 and later provides support for DD Boost to move data over Fibre
Channel as well as Ethernet. When you use Fibre Channel you can offload traffic from the
production IP networks, which can reduce network congestion and improve the ability to
meet aggressive SLAs for backup windows.
DD OS versions before release 5.3 supports IP as the transport mechanism, which means
DD Boost uses IP networking to perform all communication with the Data Domain system.
To specify the Data Domain system, DD Boost uses the hostname or IP address. To
transmit requests to the Data Domain system and to receive responses from the Data
Domain system, the DD Boost library uses TCP/IP connections. This is referred to as DD
Boost-over-IP.
DD OS release 5.3 introduces an alternative transport mechanism-Fibre Channel.
Although Fibre Channel is a general-purpose data transport mechanism, DD Boost over FC
only uses Fibre Channel as a transport.
Most DD Boost features work independently of the transport method. Similar to DD Boost
over IP, DD Boost over FC also provides the benefit of advanced load balancing and path
failover, but it is achieved through different means. With DD Boost over FC, the Data
Domain system advertises processor-type-scsi devices to the database server. The
database server discovers all of the device paths and creates generic SCSI devices. The
backup workload will utilize the most appropriate paths based on the defined path
selection criteria. If any of the device paths are not available, DD Boost library will choose
the best available paths.
The DD Boost-over-FC communication path applies only between the database server/DD
Boost library and the Data Domain system. The DD Boost-over-FC communication path
does not apply to communication between two Data Domain systems

Conclusion
DD Boost for SAP HANA enables application owners to have direct control over backups
to a Data Domain system by integrating BACKINT API with DD Boost. DBAs can initiate the
backup or restore operations with SAP HANA Studio or SAP HANA CLI.
DD Boost for SAP HANA provides the following benefits:

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u Shorter backup times. DD Boost for SAP HANA enables client-side deduplication by
distributing parts of the deduplication process to the application server.
u Seamless integration with existing infrastructure. You do not have to change
connectivity infrastructure because DD Boost for SAP HANA supports DD Boost over
Fibre Channel or IP.
u Direct integration with the SAP HANA Studio.
u Optimized data mobility. DD Boost for SAP HANA uses DD Boost as the data mover.
When you enable Distributed Segment Processing, backup times improve because
DD Boost for SAP HANA only sends unique data across the network and to the
protection storage, which reduces network utilization by up to 99%.
u LAN free backup and restores. DD Boost for SAP HANA supports Fibre Channel
transport.
u Supports the advanced load balancing and failover feature when using DD Boost over
IP for backup and restore workflows, which improves backup reliability and
efficiency.
u Protection storage integration. With DD Boost for SAP HANA, DBAs and application
owners can back up their databases directly to protection storage without the need of
configuring local disks as backup repository.
u Application integration with DD Boost storage units. This removes management and
resiliency limitations that you will experience when you use NFS exports and CIFS
shares. With all of the intelligence built into the protection storage in terms of storage
efficiency, replication, extended retention, quotas, and the Data Domain Data
Invulnerability Architecture (DIA), DD Boost for SAP HANA can now interact with the
applications and the protected data stores.

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Copyright © 2014 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Published in USA.

Published May, 2014

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notice.

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