Does SAP HANA run in the cloud?
Yes, SAP offers SAP Enterprise Cloud for BW and Suite on HANA and SAP HANA, please see this link for the FAQ:
http://www.saphana.com/docs/DOC-3554
More details on Multi-Tenancy in HEC and Upgrade cycles:
Please see these links for more details.
http://www.saphana.com/community/solutions/cloud-info
http://www.sapvirtualevents.com/teched/sessiondetails.aspx?sId=2905
Does SAP BPC - Business Planning and Consolidation run in the cloud?
Please view the following blog on BPC deployment options in the AWS cloud:
The BPCNW (non-Hana version) is available to be deployed on AWS on BYOL (Bring Your Own License) basis. Here some useful links in case you want to learn more:
Ø For the information about all available SAP deployments on AWS: http://aws.amazon.com/sap/
Ø For information about pricing of AWS: http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/ EBS pricing: http://aws.amazon.com/ebs/
Ø Supported EC2 type instances: http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/instance-types/
Ø Cost for detailed monitoring and business or enterprise support: http://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/
Ø The guides are available at: http://aws.amazon.com/sap/#tab1 (Tab: How to get started)
Ø For information about running Sap software on AWS (including BPCNW): https://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1656250 and https://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1656099
Ø SAP overview note for AWS: https://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1588667 All supported databases are also listed in the above notes.
What is SAP's definition of cloud?
Please see the great blog for clarification.
http://www.saphana.com/community/blogs/blog/2013/04/30/what-is-the-definition-of-a-cloud
Can SAP HANA be virtualized?
Yes, with SAP HANA SP5. Please see the links for more details on virtualization for SAP HANA using VMware.
http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/press.epx?PressID=19929
http://Service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1788665
What is the difference between cloud and virtualization?
Examples for definitions:
Virtualization is a systems admin and data management tool to allow to use a single piece of physical hardware, to perform the work of many. Multiple operating system instances running on one hardware device are far more economical than a single piece of hardware for every server task.
Cloud computing is access through the Internet to business applications running in a non-local environment. Cloud computing can certainly take advantage of virtualization but cloud computing can be (and has been) accomplished without the use of virtualization.
Virtualization technology involves the abstraction of an operating system from the underlying hardware on which it runs. When applied to servers, the technology enables a single server to be divided into multiple virtual environments, known as virtual machines (VMs), each capable of running its own OS and applications. Among the benefits of server virtualization is it enables far better server utilization.
A private cloud environment consists of a pool of resources dedicated to a single organization for its use. Typically those resources consist of a group of virtual servers, along with storage and network facilities. The infrastructure may be housed within the organization’s own data center or in that of a third-party hosting provider; the key to making it “private” is that only a single company has access to and control over the infrastructure. Crucial to making it a “cloud” environment is the flexibility that virtualization provides in terms of where resources exist and how they’re accessed and shared. In theory, all computing, storage and network resources are shared by whatever users and applications need them. IT can also move workloads around the virtual infrastructure as needed.