AWS Services to run SAP
This is the second part of SAP on AWS series. We will be focusing more on AWS. We will also look at the various services that are relevant to running SAP on AWS, and how they can be used in an SAP environment. In other words, if you have a specific SAP workload that you want to run on AWS, which service would best suit your needs? Click here for the first part.
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Amazon EC2
AWS EC2 offers self-service virtual machines that can be used to install SAP. There are 18 EC2 instances sizes that are suitable for SAP. They can be used to meet a variety of SAP sizing requirements. You have complete control over virtual machines. You can scale, load-balance, provision quickly (from SAP images), and monitor them with ease. All this is available at no upfront cost, and you pay only for what you use.
Operating Systems Supported: RedHat, SUSE, RedHat & WindowsDatabases Supported: IBM DB2, MaxDB and SQL Server & now Sybase ASE
Storage
Amazon EC2 Instance Store
For use cases such as SAP SWAP space or temp DB, Ephemeral block-level storage is an option. This data is lost during instance reboots so it is important to be careful not to store any sensitive data.
Amazon Elastic Block Storage (EBS).
AWS offers persistent storage that can store up to 1GB to 1TB, depending on your needs. For high I/O sensitive SAP workloads such as databases, you can use EBS volumes with standard IOPS (upto100) for test, dev and low demand production.
Amazon S3
Simple web-based interface to file storage. It is suitable for use cases such as archiving and backup files.
Amazon Glacier
This low-cost archiving solution is ideal for long-term, infrequently accessed data. Retrieval times of several hours are allowed. This solution is suitable for SAP use cases such as archiving and long-term backups.
AWS Import/Export
AWS offers a data migration service that uses portable devices to transfer large amounts of data. This is available for those who don’t have access to the internet or are unable to do so. This service is best suited to large file backups, disaster recovery, and migration of SAP Systems.
Networking
Amazon Private Cloud (VPC).
A private area in AWS that allows you to have complete control over your resources. To meet your needs, you can use a VPN or AWS Direct Connect. A VPN is quick and easy to set up, while AWS Direct Connect offers increased bandwidth throughput and reduced network costs (upto 10gbps ports). It’s great for hybrid setups, such as running a PRD/QAS/DEV environment.
Amazon CloudFormation
A service that allows for quick provisioning and management of AWS resources using a simple template file that is based on JSON. This service is ideal for training, disaster recovery, and one-click provisioning complete SAP landscapes.
Additional Services
VM Import/Export
This AWS service allows you to import VMware, Citrix, and Hyper-V images into Amazon EC2 as well as export them back on-premise. This is a great option if you have a set of golden SAP images you wish to use on the cloud.
AWS Marketplace
Pre-built SAP solutions for AWS can be searched and purchased. This will save you the time and effort of configuring and building SAP on cloud.
And as usual if you have any questions regarding use cases like Hybrid SAP, Backup & Disaster Recovery for SAP, demo SAP systems or would just like to discuss the feasibility of running SAP on cloud, e-mail me at [email protected].
Stay tuned for the next installment of this series.
