Building a Well-Architected SAP Environment on AWS: Key Considerations from the SAP Lens

Building a Well-Architected SAP Environment on AWS: Key Considerations from the SAP Lens

SAP environments have unique requirements and complex demands that can make architecting in the cloud a challenging endeavor. AWS provides the SAP Lens for the Well-Architected Framework to guide customers in designing, deploying, and managing SAP workloads on AWS. The SAP Lens is an extension of the AWS Well-Architected Framework, focusing on the five pillars of security, reliability, performance efficiency, cost optimization, and operational excellence. Here’s a breakdown of key considerations to create a well-architected SAP landscape on AWS, based on the principles of the SAP Lens.

1. Operational Excellence for SAP Workloads

• Automated Monitoring and Insights: Utilize AWS services like CloudWatch and AWS Systems Manager to gain comprehensive visibility over SAP workloads. Automation for monitoring is critical in identifying performance bottlenecks, resource utilization, and overall workload health.
• DevOps Practices for SAP: Leverage CI/CD pipelines to deploy, update, and maintain SAP workloads. AWS CodePipeline and AWS CodeBuild facilitate automation, ensuring faster and more reliable updates and reducing the downtime typically associated with SAP changes.

2. Security for SAP Applications and Data

• Data Protection: With SAP’s sensitive data, employing AWS Key Management Service (KMS) for encryption and AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) for secure access management is essential. Set up IAM policies for least privilege access and leverage multi-factor authentication (MFA).
• Network Security: Use Amazon VPC for SAP deployments, with Security Groups and Network Access Control Lists (NACLs) providing network isolation and protection from unauthorized access.
• Compliance and Governance: AWS offers compliance support for industries with stringent regulatory requirements, ensuring that SAP workloads meet standards like GDPR, HIPAA, and others.

3. Reliability in SAP Deployments

• High Availability and Disaster Recovery: Deploy SAP workloads across multiple Availability Zones (AZs) to ensure high availability. AWS provides AWS Backup for automated backups and Amazon RDS for SAP HANA with built-in replication capabilities.
• Fault Tolerance and Resiliency: Implement Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling for SAP applications to ensure workloads adapt to changes in demand. For SAP HANA, AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (AWS DRS) enables quick recovery in the event of a failure.

4. Performance Efficiency in the Cloud

• Right-Sizing SAP Infrastructure: AWS offers instance types optimized for SAP, such as the Amazon EC2 High Memory instances. Leverage AWS Compute Optimizer for recommendations on instance types based on historical usage.
• Optimized Storage: SAP databases demand high-performance storage solutions. Use Amazon EBS Provisioned IOPS SSD for intensive workloads, while Amazon S3 and Amazon EFS can provide storage for backups and other non-latency-sensitive requirements.
• Network Optimization: Leverage AWS Direct Connect for dedicated, high-speed connections between on-premises and AWS cloud environments. AWS Global Accelerator can also help optimize traffic across AWS regions for global SAP deployments.

5. Cost Optimization in SAP Workloads

• On-Demand vs. Reserved Instances: For consistent, long-term SAP workloads, Reserved Instances (RIs) or Savings Plans offer significant cost savings. For variable demand, Spot Instances can help reduce costs for non-critical batch processing or development workloads.
• Resource Utilization and Scaling: Regularly evaluate resource usage and right-size instances. AWS offers Cost Explorer and AWS Budgets to monitor and forecast costs, helping to maintain cost-effective operations.
• Automated Shutdown for Non-Production: Use Lambda scripts or AWS Instance Scheduler to stop non-production instances during off-hours to save costs.

Case Example: SAP S/4HANA Migration to AWS

Migrating SAP S/4HANA to AWS can benefit from the SAP Lens principles to ensure a secure, scalable, and efficient architecture.

1. Pre-Migration Planning: Assess current infrastructure and determine the most cost-effective migration pathway, using AWS Migration Hub and AWS DMS (Database Migration Service).
2. Deployment: For high availability, consider multi-AZ deployment with managed RDS for HANA, or EC2 instances with HANA System Replication.
3. Optimization: Following migration, continually assess performance using AWS CloudWatch and SAP-focused Quick Starts available in the AWS Well-Architected Tool.

Summary

The AWS Well-Architected SAP Lens provides a strategic framework tailored to the specific needs of SAP environments on AWS, covering best practices across operational, security, reliability, performance, and cost aspects. By aligning with this framework, enterprises can optimize their SAP workloads on AWS to be secure, resilient, and cost-efficient, paving the way for innovation and growth in the cloud.