The roadmap via Road Map Explorer was recently updated and some interesting features jumped into the spotlight. Some of them are already known because they are already implemented in HANA 4.0 (HANA Cloud). SAPHANA 2.0 SPS08 is planned to be released at the end of November 2024.
The interesting topics with important changes are: partitioning, data tiering (NSE), security, optimizer, backup and XSA. No, you won't hear any machine learning or AI features from me. If you really want and need them, because there are some, please go to Road Map Explorer :)
=> currently HASH-RANGE was only possible for non-heterogeneous / homogeneous partitioning, so it was not possible to use the dynamic range interval option - a great one!
=> some of you may noticed that some monitoring views in SPS07 already containing some level 3 partition details
=> I'm curious to find a business case for this partition designs
=> SAP mean the parameter buffer_cache_cs - unload_threshold which is set by default to 80 (%)
=> Currently I don't know if this feature helps customers to size the buffer cache properly
=> I'm really excited to test this feature, because it will make the life of a DBA easier, if you are using NSE on partition level
=> this will make the implementation of NSE faster and easier due to lower downtimes - great feature!
=> this one of my most anticipated feature, because the HEX or more precise the optimizer made a lot of trouble in the past due to switching engines and the eviction of HEX plans
=> to be able to use multiple plans at a time depending on the bind variables can be a game changer in terms of performance using the HEX
=> this feature is already available since Q2 of 2024 for HANA Cloud named as SQL Plan Advisor
=> Activating TLS 1.3 by default can create some trouble for some customers, but the implementation was more than necessary after this long time
=> the IP-based connect restriction allows to implement a SoD (Segregation of duties) concepts or helps to isolate instances
=> I'm waiting for such a feature for the "normal" HANA not only for XSA
=> to set LSS as default can also create some trouble and should be implemented carefully
At the end really useful features. I hope that they implement some new monitoring views for NSE and partitioning - otherwise we (XLC) will built our own solution to get the needed information collected in own history views for our customers. Due to the lack of events around the topic HANA it was not possible to provide the needed feedback for so many customers. The consequence? A lot of missing features which SAP is not aware of. Yes, there is an idea/influence page but without enough votes you can not reach your goal even if the idea is brilliant, because SAP is not aware of the need.