Google Cloud supports several file sharing solutions for SAP on Google Cloud. Which you choose depends on what you are using the file sharing solution for, whether your SAP systems extend across zones or regions, and the performance requirements of your workloads.
Supported file sharing solutions for SAP on Google Cloud
The following table shows the file sharing solutions that Google Cloud supports for SAP systems.
If you are already using one of these file sharing solutions for other purposes and the solution meets all the requirements of your SAP workloads, then you can use that solution for your SAP systems also.
| File sharing solution | Description |
|---|---|
| Filestore |
Google Cloud high-performance, fully managed file storage. For multi-zonal high-availability deployments, we recommend that you use the Regional service tier of Filestore (Filestore Regional). For single-zone high-performance deployments, we recommend that you use the Zonal service tier of Filestore (Filestore Zonal). For information about the Filestore service tiers, see Service tiers. For information about how to perform basic operations in Filestore by using the Google Cloud console, see Create a Filestore instance by using the Google Cloud console. |
| NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP |
A full-featured, smart storage solution that you deploy and manage yourself on a Compute Engine instance. For more information about NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP on Google Cloud, see Supported configurations for Cloud Volumes ONTAP in Google Cloud. |
| Google Cloud NetApp Volumes |
Google Cloud NetApp Volumes is a fully managed, cloud-based data storage service that provides advanced data management capabilities and highly scalable performance. NetApp Volumes offers four service levels: Flex, Standard, Premium, and Extreme. For the SAP HANA data and log directories, you must use the Premium or Extreme service level. For SAP HANA shared files, you can use the Flex, Standard, or Premium service level. For more information, see About Google Cloud NetApp Volumes. |
File sharing solutions by SAP use case
The following table lists the most common use cases for file sharing solutions in SAP landscapes and the solutions that support the use cases.
| Use case | Purpose | Recommended solutions |
|---|---|---|
| Interface directory | For use as a general storage location by SAP and other software systems to pass files between servers. |
|
| SAP transport directory | For use as an SAP storage location by SAP systems to hold shared application files in distributed or high-availability deployments, or to transport SAP files and updates between different operational environments. |
|
| Backup directory | For use by SAP or other systems as a centralized storage location for backups. |
|
| SAP HANA scaleout system directory | For use within a single zone by SAP HANA scaleout systems to share binaries and configuration files between the SAP HANA nodes. |
|
| SAP HANA shared files | For storing shared binaries and configuration files used by the SAP HANA nodes. |
|
| SAP HANA data and log persistence |
For the persistence of the /hana/data and /hana/log
directories.
|
|
Features supported by each file sharing solution
The following table shows the common features that SAP systems require of file sharing solutions and the solutions that support those features.
| Feature | Filestore Zonal | Filestore Regional | NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP | Google Cloud NetApp Volumes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disaster recovery | Asynchronous instance replication or backup restore | Asynchronous instance replication or backup restore | Automated with Snapmirror | Cross-region or cross-zone volume replication |
| High availability | Zonal service, 99.9% SLA | Multi-zonal service, 99.99% SLA | Multi-zone HA solution; 99.99% SLA for only the Google Cloud infrastructure |
The Flex service level as a regional service with 99.99% SLA. The Premium or Extreme service level as a zonal service with 99.95% SLA. The Flex service level as a zonal service with 99.9% SLA. |
| Snapshots/Backup | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Managed service | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Protocols | NFSv3, NFSv4.1 | NFSv3, NFSv4.1 | NFSv3, NFSv4.1, SMB, iSCSI | NFSv3, NFSv4.1, SMB, iSCSI |
| Regional replication | Yes | Yes | With Snapmirror | Yes |
| Regional availability | In supported regions | In supported regions | All regions. See the Global regions map. | In supported regions |
| RPO for disaster recovery | About 30 minutes, with instance replicationNote 1 | About 30 minutes, with instance replicationNote 1 | As low as 15 minutesNote 1 | As low as 10 minutesNote 1 for cross-region replication. |
| Minimum storage | See Zonal tier | See Regional tier | 100 GB volume with 638 GB system disk | See Google Cloud NetApp Volumes service levels |
| Throughput performance | See Zonal tierNote 2 | See Regional tierNote 2 | Configuration dependent. See the NetApp documentation. | See Volume performance sizing |
| Support provider | Google Cloud | Google Cloud | NetApp for NetApp software, and Google Cloud for the infrastructure | Google Cloud |
Table notes:
- Note 1: The times shown are approximate and depend on a variety of factors, including your system and network configuration, backup intervals, and recovery procedures.
- Note 2: With the Filestore Zonal and Regional tiers, throughput scales with allocated capacity. For more information, see Zonal tier and Regional tier. You can also configure throughput to set up custom performance.