Save yourself time and prevent headaches with these simple steps! I guess that sounds like a pushy advertisement, but I promise I’m not trying to get you to buy anything. I’ve been looking through some of the questions that get posted in our Developer Center, and I’ve noticed that some of the situations could be prevented (and can easily be resolved) during installation. So I decided to help out by creating this post. (By the way, if you’ve already installed streaming, and you need some tips for updating, take a look at Updating Smart Data Streaming and SAP HANA).

Host with the Most

First of all, smart data streaming and HANA require separate dedicated hosts unless you’re setting up a test environment that isn’t intended for production. You can definitely have more than one streaming host, but each one needs to run a separate streaming node.

All of the hosts in the system need to have access to the HANA shared directory before you start the install, so make sure you mount/share the shared storage between the multiple nodes.

Things to Think About

You can install HANA and smart data streaming at the same time, or HANA first, smart data streaming later. The streaming server and the HANA server must have the same SP/revision number, and run on the same operating system. If you’ll be installing streaming onto an existing HANA system, you’ll need ROOT access on the HANA server, (and the version of SAP HANA needs to be SPS 09 or later). The streaming server is dependent on the HANA client, so you will also need to make sure that you’ve installed the HANA client.

Steps in the Process

When you are installing there are only three main tasks – but each is very important.

1. Install the smart data streaming server with a new or existing HANA system.
2. Add a streaming host (one for each streaming node).
3. Install the streaming studio plugin.

1. Install the Streaming Server

Download the HANA and smart data streaming packages (two downloads) from Fiori Launchpad or SAP Service Marketplace. (Both packages are both under “H” for HANA). Extract them to a common location, then use hdblcm or hdblcmgui for the installation. This HANA Academy video shows you how.

2. Add a Streaming Host

Adding a host for streaming seems to be a step that sometimes gets overlooked. You can read more about how to do it using the command line or the graphical interface. (If you are doing the whole shebang – installing HANA, SDS and adding the streaming host, it’s a single process). Also, keep in mind that a single node configuration with core HANA services and streaming running on the same node is only supported in a non-productive or test environment. If you are trying to add streaming to a single node HANA system, take a look at this troubleshooting topic.

3. Install the Streaming Studio Plugin

The development and run-test perspectives for smart data streaming are a plugin to the HANA studio that you’ll need to download separately. From SAP Service Marketplace, Support Packages, A-Z index,  “H” (for HANA), look for SAP HANA smart data streaming, then Comprised software component versions and choose Smart Data Streaming Studio 1.0. When you extract the download file to a local directory, ensure that the directory path doesn’t contain any spaces. From there, you just need to Install New Software in the HANA Studio. This blog has all the details.

Configuration

Getting smart data streaming up and running starts with installation, but there are some other things you’ll want to do too:

• Start the streaming nodes
• Configure user roles and authorizations
• Configure the streaming functionality for the HANA cockpit
• Define and install additional streaming nodes (if you want)

It’s all described in Configuring SAP HANA Smart Data Streaming for the First Time.

All Systems Go

In HANA Studio, you can see if smart data streaming is running by opening the system overview tab. If it’s in the list in the “Distributed System” section then it’s installed, and a green square indicates that it’s running.

More Information

I hope that this helps simplify the process. You can always check out more details in the SAP HANA Smart Data Streaming: Installation and Update Guide. And there’s also a great demo from TechEd that shows these steps in action.