SAP on IBM Power Systems Running Linux

SAP business applications running on IBM Power Systems™ provide excellent flexibility, scalability, performance and resiliency.

With built-in virtualization and capacity on demand, IBM Power Systems meet the demands of data-intense workloads. The platform allows to grow and adapt the size of the SAP environment dynamically without having to provision a new server, resulting in better hardware utilization and smaller data center footprint.

The support of SAP software on Linux on Power started in 2004. In 2015, SAP announced the general availability for SAP HANA on IBM Power Systems.

IBM PowerVM® is the native virtualization technology for IBM Power Systems. It allows to run SAP on AIX, IBM i, and Linux operating systems concurrently.

Alternatively, KVM based virtualization technology is available on particular 1- and 2-socket Power Systems. For details on supported Linux distributions and virtualization options see IBM Knowledge Center. SAP software (with the exception of SAP HANA) is supported with Red Hat Virtualization (RHV) using KVM technology on those servers (see SAP note 1400911 for details).

SAP HANA is supported on Power8, Power9, and Power10 processor-based systems with IBM PowerVM virtualization technology. For a list of supported models and configurations refer to the SAP HANA hardware directory and SAP note 2188482. 

See Run SAP HANA on the platform built for big data for a description of key advantages and customer case studies. 

IBM Power Systems Virtual Server is an enterprise Infrastructure-as-a-Service offering. Power Systems Virtual Servers are physically located with low-latency connectivity to the IBM Cloud infrastructure. In the data centers, the Power Systems Virtual Servers are separated from the rest of the IBM Cloud servers with separate networks and direct-attached storage. 

This infrastructure design enables Power Systems Virtual Server to maintain key enterprise software certification and support as the Power Systems Virtual Server architecture is identical to certified on-premises infrastructure. The virtual servers, also known as logical partitions (LPAR), run on IBM Power Systems hardware with the PowerVM hypervisor. 

SAP NetWeaver and SAP HANA are supported on those virtual servers. See What is a Power Systems Virtual Server? SAP NetWeaver and SAP HANA on IBM Power Systems Virtual Server.

IBM, Red Hat and SAP have conducted a feasibility study to containerize S/4HANA, SAP HANA and SAP NetWeaver. The concept takes advantage of enterprise class SAP S/4HANA, IBM Power Systems technology and enterprise-grade container platform Red Hat OpenShift and targets test and other non-production landscapes. Industry automation standards orchestrate the process end-to-end, and in single step workflows. 

See IBM Power Systems - SAP Software Deployed in Red Hat OpenShift and GitHub: Containerization by IBM for SAP S/4HANA with Red Hat OpenShift.

Related SAP notes and blogs

• 765424 - Linux: Released IBM Hardware - POWER base servers
• 1002461 - Support of IBM Dynamic LPAR and Micropartitioning
• 1122387 - Linux: SAP support in virtualized environments
• 1102760 - PowerVM Live Partition Mobility
• 1400911 - Linux: SAP NetWeaver on Red Hat KVM - Kernel-based Virtual Machine
• Using SAP Landscape Management with Linux on Power
• Automating the Installation of SAP S/4HANA and SAP HANA on IBM Power Systems using Red Hat Ansible

Related IBM information

• IBM Power Systems
• Enterprise Linux servers
• Linux at IBM
• Infrastructure for SAP HANA
• Supported Linux distributions and virtualization options for Linux on Power systems
• IBM Power Systems Virtual Server

IBM Redbooks

• IBM Power Systems - SAP Software Deployed in Red Hat OpenShift (2021)
• IBM Power Systems Virtualization Operation Management for SAP Applications (2019)
• SAP Landscape Management 3.0 and IBM Power Systems Servers (2019)
• Geographically Dispersed Resilience for SAP HANA and SAP NetWeaver (2018)