Large-Scale SAP HANA Database Backup and Restoration on AWS Cloud Infrastructure

Abstract

The migration of SAP HANA databases to AWS cloud infrastructure represents a fundamental transformation in enterprise resource planning systems management, enabling organizations to leverage elastic computing resources while maintaining mission-critical operational continuity. Cloud computing has evolved as a model for delivering computing resources as measured services over the internet, fundamentally changing how organizations approach infrastructure investments and operational scalability. SAP HANA's in-memory architecture presents unique challenges for backup and restoration operations on AWS, requiring specialized strategies that account for the database's columnar storage format, delta merge operations, and memory-optimized processing capabilities. AWS provides a comprehensive ecosystem of storage services, including Amazon S3 for object storage, Amazon EBS for block storage, and AWS Backup for centralized backup management, each offering distinct performance characteristics and cost structures suitable for different stages of the HANA backup lifecycle. The implementation of effective backup strategies for large-scale HANA databases on AWS demands careful consideration of backup windows, recovery time objectives, recovery point objectives, and regulatory compliance requirements while optimizing cloud resource consumption. This article examines architectural frameworks for implementing robust backup and restoration mechanisms for SAP HANA databases on AWS, analyzing the integration of HANA-native backup tools with AWS storage services, parallel processing capabilities through AWS infrastructure, and automation frameworks leveraging AWS management services. It addresses critical performance optimization techniques, including snapshot-based backups using Amazon EBS, incremental backup strategies utilizing HANA's delta backup capabilities, and lifecycle management policies that automatically transition backup data across Amazon S3 storage classes based on retention requirements and access patterns.