Since a couple of weeks a new version of the SAP HANA Cloud Connector has been released and a lot of new features are now available.
Maybe the most prominent one is the new administration user interface, which is now aligned with the look&feel of the SAP HANA Cloud Platform Cockpit. Not only the design has been changed, the whole structure has been fully renovated to make it easier for you to configure and administrate your SAP HANA Cloud Connector. It's worth to have a look at it!
Just to mention a couple of other new features, the version 2.9 of the SAP HANA Cloud Connector allows you now to:
The latter feature is definitely my favorite one of the new release and I want to share in this blog more details on how it works exactly.
To be very clear, we really recommend to have only one SAP HANA Cloud Connector whenever it's possible but for some use cases, you may need 2 or more instances.
Let's assume that you need to combine data coming from 2 different network locations in one application. With the previous version, this kind of scenario was unfortunately just not possible. This restriction disappears with the latest release. It's now possible to connect multiple SAP HANA Cloud Connectors to a single SAP HANA Cloud Platform account, so that you can address multiple separate corporate network segments.
1. Configuration of the SAP HANA Cloud Connectors
The different SAP HANA Cloud Connectors are distinguishable via their location ID. You have 2 ways to define this optional property in the SAP HANA Cloud Connector administration user interface:
A. By adding a new account
B. By editing the details of the "Connector State" section
The Location Id is not mandatory but as soon as you want to use multiple SAP HANA Cloud Connectors, only one can have the default value. As you can imagine, the location Id should be unique 😉
2. Configuration of the Connectivity Service in the SAP HANA Cloud Platform Cockpit
Once you have 2 SAP HANA Cloud Connectors connected to your SAP HANA Cloud Platform account, both instances should be visible in the Connectivity section of your SAP HANA Cloud Platform Cockpit.
In order to route requests to a SAP HANA Cloud Connector, the location Id needs to be configured in the respective destinations in the SAP HANA Cloud Platform Cockpit.
So let's create 2 different destinations based on the following setup:
SAP HANA Cloud Connector 1
SCC name: SCC1 - demo
Location Id: empty (default value)
Virtual Host of the Acces Control: demo1.backend:1234
SAP HANA Cloud Connector 2
SCC name: SCC2 - demo
Location Id: SCC2-DC2
Virtual Host of the Access Control: demo2.backend:9876
First go to the Connectivity section and click on Destinations and then create a new destination.
The first destination redirecting to the first SAP HANA Cloud Connector (SCC1 - demo) has to be configured as usual.
As we didn't have a location ID for our first SAP HANA Cloud Connector, we keep the property "Location ID" empty.
In case you don't specify any location Id in the destination, the request will be always redirected to the instance with the default location Id which is "empty".
The second destination redirecting to the second SAP HANA Cloud Connector needs an additional property in order to define the location Id.
Note: Since end of April 2017, you don't need anymore to add the additional property "CloudConnectorLocationId".
Once the destinations are configured, you can now build an application consuming the data coming from different landscapes by using those destinations.
1. Can I use different SAP HANA Cloud Connectors from different releases togehter?
Yes, this is possible but keep in mind that this new feature is only available from version 2.9. That means that SAP HANA Cloud Connector from previous versions must have the default value of the location Id. Moreover for productive usage we strongly recommend to upgrade your instance to the latest version.
2. What about the location Id I have defined in a previous version?
Location IDs that have been provided in previous versions of the SAP HANA Cloud Connector will be dropped during an upgrade to ensure that running scenarios are not disturbed.
3. Is the location Id property in previous version now important?
No, the location Id was only an optional property to describe the SAP HANA Cloud Connector and it's still the same now. That means that adding a location Id to a SAP HANA Cloud Connector 2.8 will not allows you to connect another SAP HANA cloud Connector without Location Id.
Now it's time for you to discover the new SAP HANA Cloud Connector...
Don't wait, download it, play around with it and let me know which feature is your favorite one?
https://tools.hana.ondemand.com/#cloud
Feedback is of course welcome 😉
Maybe the most prominent one is the new administration user interface, which is now aligned with the look&feel of the SAP HANA Cloud Platform Cockpit. Not only the design has been changed, the whole structure has been fully renovated to make it easier for you to configure and administrate your SAP HANA Cloud Connector. It's worth to have a look at it!
Just to mention a couple of other new features, the version 2.9 of the SAP HANA Cloud Connector allows you now to:
- use a service channel to access the SAP HANA Cloud Platform Virtual Machines via SSH
- configure alerts that are triggered whenever a certificate used in SAP HANA Cloud Connector is about to expire
- use LDAP as additional protocol for accessing systems exposed by the SAP HANA Cloud Connector, which is a prerequisite for using the SAP HANA Cloud Platform Identity Provisioning Service
- connect multiple SAP HANA Cloud Connectors to one SAP HANA Cloud Platform Account
The latter feature is definitely my favorite one of the new release and I want to share in this blog more details on how it works exactly.
When should I use multiple SAP HANA Cloud Connectors?
To be very clear, we really recommend to have only one SAP HANA Cloud Connector whenever it's possible but for some use cases, you may need 2 or more instances.
Let's assume that you need to combine data coming from 2 different network locations in one application. With the previous version, this kind of scenario was unfortunately just not possible. This restriction disappears with the latest release. It's now possible to connect multiple SAP HANA Cloud Connectors to a single SAP HANA Cloud Platform account, so that you can address multiple separate corporate network segments.
How does it work?
1. Configuration of the SAP HANA Cloud Connectors
The different SAP HANA Cloud Connectors are distinguishable via their location ID. You have 2 ways to define this optional property in the SAP HANA Cloud Connector administration user interface:
A. By adding a new account
B. By editing the details of the "Connector State" section
The Location Id is not mandatory but as soon as you want to use multiple SAP HANA Cloud Connectors, only one can have the default value. As you can imagine, the location Id should be unique 😉
2. Configuration of the Connectivity Service in the SAP HANA Cloud Platform Cockpit
Once you have 2 SAP HANA Cloud Connectors connected to your SAP HANA Cloud Platform account, both instances should be visible in the Connectivity section of your SAP HANA Cloud Platform Cockpit.
In order to route requests to a SAP HANA Cloud Connector, the location Id needs to be configured in the respective destinations in the SAP HANA Cloud Platform Cockpit.
So let's create 2 different destinations based on the following setup:
SAP HANA Cloud Connector 1
SCC name: SCC1 - demo
Location Id: empty (default value)
Virtual Host of the Acces Control: demo1.backend:1234
SAP HANA Cloud Connector 2
SCC name: SCC2 - demo
Location Id: SCC2-DC2
Virtual Host of the Access Control: demo2.backend:9876
First go to the Connectivity section and click on Destinations and then create a new destination.
The first destination redirecting to the first SAP HANA Cloud Connector (SCC1 - demo) has to be configured as usual.
As we didn't have a location ID for our first SAP HANA Cloud Connector, we keep the property "Location ID" empty.
In case you don't specify any location Id in the destination, the request will be always redirected to the instance with the default location Id which is "empty".
The second destination redirecting to the second SAP HANA Cloud Connector needs an additional property in order to define the location Id.
Note: Since end of April 2017, you don't need anymore to add the additional property "CloudConnectorLocationId".
Once the destinations are configured, you can now build an application consuming the data coming from different landscapes by using those destinations.
Useful information
1. Can I use different SAP HANA Cloud Connectors from different releases togehter?
Yes, this is possible but keep in mind that this new feature is only available from version 2.9. That means that SAP HANA Cloud Connector from previous versions must have the default value of the location Id. Moreover for productive usage we strongly recommend to upgrade your instance to the latest version.
2. What about the location Id I have defined in a previous version?
Location IDs that have been provided in previous versions of the SAP HANA Cloud Connector will be dropped during an upgrade to ensure that running scenarios are not disturbed.
3. Is the location Id property in previous version now important?
No, the location Id was only an optional property to describe the SAP HANA Cloud Connector and it's still the same now. That means that adding a location Id to a SAP HANA Cloud Connector 2.8 will not allows you to connect another SAP HANA cloud Connector without Location Id.
How to test it?
Now it's time for you to discover the new SAP HANA Cloud Connector...
Don't wait, download it, play around with it and let me know which feature is your favorite one?
https://tools.hana.ondemand.com/#cloud
Feedback is of course welcome 😉
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