SAP-Certified IBM Storage Solutions
IBM and SAP – A Partnership Rooted in Innovation
For over five decades, IBM has been a trusted partner of SAP, delivering over 6,000 successful SAP projects worldwide. With more than 38,000 SAP-certified practitioners and over 19,000 consultants certified specifically in SAP S/4HANA, IBM offers unmatched expertise in the implementation, modernization, and cloud migration of SAP ERP systems. IBM has also maintained a staff of 60+ engineers on site in Walldorf to ensure our Power and Storage infrastructure is fully optimized, tested and HW validated by SAP and IaaS certified on IBM PowerVS in IBM Cloud.
As organizations pursue intelligent and sustainable digital transformations, IBM remains at the forefront—leveraging its deep domain knowledge, secure infrastructure, and forward-thinking approach to help clients accelerate value realization.
SAP Certification of IBM Storage –
IBM continues to certify its enterprise storage offerings through rigorous testing and alignment with SAP's evolving standards. The latest certification effort includes the IBM SAN Volume Controller, IBM FlashSystem, and the IBM DS8900F family—ensuring optimal integration, performance, and reliability for SAP HANA environments. This certification validates that the product has been successfully integrated with SAP solutions, in line with SAP’s established certification procedures.
Certification Summary: IBM Storage with SAP HANA
The IBM Storage certification for SAP HANA was conducted in alignment with SAP's best practices, focusing on performance, reliability, and scalability. The tests validated the use of the XFS file system, optimized for large-scale, high-performance environments, ensuring consistent performance under the intensive workloads typical of in-memory analytics.
Key highlights of the certification process included:
- Optimized Storage Layouts: Following SAP HANA best practices, the setup used workload isolation by separating data, log, shared, and backup volumes to minimize I/O contention and maximize throughput.
- LVM (Logical Volume Management): Enhanced performance was achieved by deploying striped logical volumes, which support parallel I/O operations and improve scalability. These were especially effective for SAP HANA’s data and log file systems.
- Volume and LVM Tuning: Storage performance was further improved through:
- Multiple volume configurations to distribute workloads and isolate I/O operations.
- Striped logical volumes for parallel access and throughput optimization.
- Careful stripe size and alignment tuning, ensuring full utilization of FlashSystem capabilities while minimizing latency.
This rigorous certification reaffirms IBM FlashSystem’s ability to meet the demanding performance standards of SAP HANA environments on premises and on IBM Power Virtual Server in IBM Cloud.
For a deeper dive into optimizing performance, we recommend referring to the IBM Redbook Supercharge Your IBM Storage FlashSystem: Performance Tips and Tricks. You can access the full publication here: https://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/pdfs/sg248585.pdf.
Certified IBM Storage Systems for SAP
IBM FlashSystem Family
Certified under the IBM FlashSystem solution, the following systems are now validated for SAP workloads:
- IBM FlashSystem 5015
- IBM FlashSystem 5045
- IBM FlashSystem 5300
- IBM FlashSystem 7300
- IBM FlashSystem 9500
- IBM FlashSystem 9500R
- IBM FlashSystem C200
IBM SAN Volume Controller Family
The IBM SAN Volume Controller platform, known for its scalability and performance, is SAP-certified across these models:
- IBM SAN Volume Controller 2145/2147 SA2
- IBM SAN Volume Controller 2145/2147 SV3
IBM DS8000 Family
Within the IBM DS8000 portfolio, the following systems are certified:
- IBM DS8910F
- IBM DS8950F
- IBM DS8980F
- IBM DS8A10
- IBM DS8A50
Further Reading and Technical Guidance
For a detailed overview of IBM Storage architecture for SAP HANA Tailored Datacenter Integration (TDI), refer to the IBM System Storage Architecture and Configuration Guide for SAP HANA TDI.
Explore additional technical insights:
IBM Power and IBM Storage: Proven Platforms for SAP Transformation
A growing number of SAP transformations rely on IBM Power servers and IBM Storage systems, which are recognized among the most secure and reliable platforms for SAP HANA deployments. This unique combination of world-class technology and transformation experience positions IBM as a strategic partner for clients on their journey to becoming intelligent, sustainable enterprises.
Accelerating Transformation with IBM Power Virtual Server
On January 7th 2025, SAP introduced RISE with SAP on IBM Power Virtual Server to accelerate the move to Cloud ERP and business transformation as a service. Beginning in 3Q2025, SAP will offer IBM Power Virtual Server as hyperscaler cloud infrastructure for RISE with SAP. IBM’s Power Virtual Server offering includes the FS9500 storage subsystem, a fully certified storage offering that provides a highly resilient and reliable architecture for SAP’s Cloud ERP. It also provides an architecture that is consistent with what Power customers use on premises helping to ensure a smooth transition to Cloud.
RISE with SAP is a methodology-based journey designed for SAP ERP customers to move to the SAP Business Suite that brings together SAP cloud ERP applications, SAP Business AI, and SAP Business Data Cloud. IBM Power Virtual Server offers a unique advantage to the enterprises that run SAP landscape on IBM Power servers: It is designed for a faster and non-disruptive move to RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition. Trusted IBM Power and Flash Storage provide the essential security, reliability, and performance to provide the granularity that IBM customer demands, which lead to ultimate TCO savings in SAP Cloud ERP.
As part of IBM’s internal modernization efforts, IBM achieved a 30% reduction in infrastructure and operational costs over 18 months, supporting over 150,000 ERP users through the RISE with SAP model.
Learn more: RISE with SAP on IBM Power Virtual Server
IBM Storage Sentinel and SAP HANA: Cyber-Resilient Data Protection
IBM Storage Sentinel is a cyber-resilient data protection solution developed by IBM to safeguard critical workloads—such as SAP HANA. As ransomware threats continue to increase, the need to protect mission-critical data has never been greater.
IBM Storage Sentinel delivers advanced capabilities for scanning multiple databases—including SAP HANA—for signs of ransomware. It packages IBM Storage Defender Copy Data Management with the Sentinel anomaly detection engine to provide end-to-end protection.
The solution works by quiescing the SAP HANA database and taking a Safeguarded Copy snapshot of the data files. It then scans this snapshot for ransomware indicators. The analysis includes both deep content inspection of SAP HANA files and metadata evaluation. Its scan engine leverages machine learning to identify potential threats with high accuracy.
With IBM Storage Sentinel, SAP HANA customers can be confident that their snapshots are secure and clean from ransomware. By integrating these capabilities, IBM Storage Sentinel offers a comprehensive approach to data resilience—helping organizations detect threats early and recover efficiently.
Learn more about the IBM and SAP partnership by visiting IBM.com/SAP