Glossary of Key Terms
Glossary of Key Terms
| Term | Definition |
| Analytic Privileges | A security feature used to limit user access to data within HANA Information Views by applying row and column-level restrictions on attributes. |
| Analytic View | A type of Information View designed to perform calculations and aggregations, structured in a star schema form with one fact table joined to multiple dimension tables. |
| Attribute View | A type of Information View created on top of dimension tables. They represent master data and are used to join dimension tables or other Attribute Views. |
| Auditing | A security feature that allows the monitoring of actions performed in the HANA system. An audit policy defines which activities are performed, by whom, and at what time, writing events to an audit trail. |
| Backup & Recovery | The process of creating backups of the SAP HANA database and restoring it in case of a system failure. Recovery can be to the most recent state, a specific point in time, or from a specific data backup. |
| Calculation View | The most advanced type of Information View, used to perform complex calculations not possible in other views. They can consume other Attribute, Analytic, and Calculation views, and can be created graphically or with SQL Script. |
| Catalog | A node in SAP HANA Studio that contains all available schemas, which in turn hold data structures like tables, column views, and procedures. |
| Column Store | A method of data storage where data is stored vertically in columns. This format is highly optimized for data compression and for queries that perform aggregations and calculations. |
| Content | A node in SAP HANA Studio that contains the design-time repository, holding all information of data models (Information Views) organized into Packages. |
| Data Provisioning | The process of moving data from source systems into the SAP HANA database, achieved through various data replication methods. |
| Delivery Unit | A single, transportable entity that maps to multiple packages. It is used to export and import a collection of packages and their objects as a single unit. |
| Dimension Table | A table in a data warehouse schema that contains master data (e.g., Customer, Product). It is joined to a fact table to provide context for analysis. |
| DXC (Direct Extractor Connection) | A batch-driven data replication method that reuses existing extraction, transformation, and load (ETL) mechanisms built into SAP Business Suite systems over an HTTP(S) connection. |
| ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) | A data replication process that extracts data from a source, transforms it to fit operational needs, and loads it into a target database. In HANA, this is often done using SAP Data Services (BODS). |
| Fact Table | A central table in a star schema that contains measurable data (measures) and foreign keys that link to dimension tables. |
| Index Server | The primary component and “heart” of the SAP HANA database. It contains the actual data, the engines for processing that data (including the SQL/MDX Processor), and the Persistence Layer. |
| Information Composer | A self-service, web-based modeling environment for business users to upload data from files (e.g., .xls, .csv) into HANA and create simple information views for analysis. |
| Information Modeler | A feature within SAP HANA Studio used to create information views (Attribute, Analytic, Calculation) on top of database tables to implement business logic for reporting and analysis. |
| In-Memory Computing Engine (IMCE) | The core technology of SAP HANA that stores and processes massive amounts of real-time data directly in RAM, enabling significantly faster data access and analysis compared to disk-based systems. |
| MDX (Multi Dimension Expression) | A query language for Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) systems, similar to how SQL is used for relational databases. It is used to query multidimensional data stored in cubes or Information Views. |
| Package | A folder-like container within the Content node of SAP HANA Studio used to organize and manage data models like Attribute, Analytic, and Calculation views. |
| Persistence Layer | A component of the Index Server responsible for the durability and atomicity of transactions. It manages data and transaction log volumes, ensuring the database can be restored to its most recent state after a failure through the use of savepoints. |
| Restricted User | A type of SAP HANA user who accesses the system via an application and does not have SQL privileges. They cannot create objects and can only connect via HTTP/HTTPS. |
| Row Store | A method of data storage where data is stored horizontally in rows. This format is preferred when a query needs to retrieve all columns for a complete record. |
| SAP HANA Studio | An Eclipse-based, integrated development environment (IDE) that serves as the primary client tool for SAP HANA administration, data modeling, and data provisioning. |
| Savepoint | A periodic operation (defaulting to every five minutes) where changed data is automatically saved from memory to the persistence layer on disk, ensuring data durability. |
| Schema | A logical description of tables and their relationships in a data warehouse. Common types include Star, Snowflake, and Galaxy schemas. In HANA’s catalog, it is a container for database objects like tables and views. |
| SLT (SAP Landscape Transformation) Replication | A trigger-based data replication method that provides real-time or scheduled data replication from SAP and non-SAP sources to SAP HANA. |
| Star Schema | The simplest data warehouse schema, where a central fact table is directly connected to one or more dimension tables. Each dimension is represented by a single, non-normalized table. |
| SQL (Structured Query Language) | A standardized language for communicating with a database. It is used to perform data definition (DDL), data manipulation (DML), and data control (DCL) operations. |
| SQL Script | A set of SQL extensions for SAP HANA that allows developers to embed complex application logic directly within the database through stored procedures and functions, enabling significant performance optimization. |
| XS Engine | A component of SAP HANA architecture that acts as a small web server. It allows external Java and HTML-based applications to access HANA system data via HTTP/HTTPS. |