Get access to a SAP HANA instance

[Former Member]

A few weeks ago I decided to start developing an application in the SAP HANA platform and I was a bit lost regarding how to have access to a HANA instance, that is which development solution to choose and why. So I decided to share with you the results of my search, so that you don’t have to do the same.

To begin with, in this post I will include only the cloud solutions, which can be free of charge or with a fee, depending on the provider.

FREE OF CHARGE

• HANA cloud platform

This is the first and more known solution for HANA application development. You are provided with a Platform-as-a-Service HANA system and you are able to build and run your own applications.

To be able to have access to the HANA cloud platform you need to create an SCN account and get your free developer license. The whole process can be found in the following HANA Academy video series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkzo92owKnVyPLjYRWsjuFj0DFuPPI2qy

• 30 day trial

If you want to possess you own HANA server, then you can do so with the free 30 day trial provided by CloudShare. In this solution you can choose to work from a cloud desktop, which is provided by CloudShare, or from your local machine.

The setup of this solution can be found here: http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-28191

SUBSCRIPTION FEE

• SAP HANA Developer Edition

This solution is not exactly a single solution. Here you can choose one the HANA cloud providers, depending on your preferences regarding configuration, services and pricing. The providers are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cloudshare, KT ucloud biz and SmartCloudPT.

It must be noted that with the HANA Developer Edition, you are not allowed to use the applications you develop productively or sell them as a cloud-based service, but only to develop, test and demo your applications.

Here you can find all the information you need: http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-31722

• SAP HANA One

If the previous solution binds you to their non-profit use permissions, then HANA One is what you need. HANA One allows you to build applications for production and sell them to your customers, as part of the OEM program, but with a higher cost.

All you need to do is create an Amazon Web Services account and provision an SAP HANA One instance from the AWS Marketplace.

FREE & FEE

• Cloud Appliance Library

With SAP Cloud Appliance Library you can access SAP solutions (including HANA) that are provided as free trials or with a subscription fee.

In the below links you will find all the information that you need:

http://scn.sap.com/community/cloud-appliance-library

http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-47930

https://cal.sap.com/

HANA CLIENT AND STUDIO

Lastly, regardless of the solution you will choose to start your HANA development, in order to do so you will need the HANA Client and HANA Studio. Those two will allow you to connect to your HANA instance via your pc and create your application.

You can download them from: https://hanadeveditionsapicl.hana.ondemand.com/hanadevedition/