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SAP Hana

A multi-model in-memory database with built-in graph engine supporting both property graphs and knowledge graphs. Provides built-in graph algorithms for path finding and network analysis. Part of SAP Business Technology Platform.

Overall rank
#21
First released
November 2010
License
Proprietary
Built with
C++

Details

Vendor
SAP
Type
Multiple
Category
Enterprise
License
Proprietary
Language
C++
Query Languages
SQLopenCypherGraphScript
Protocols
JDBC/ODBCNative binary

Feature scores

Community & Business

Active development
50%
Updated 3-6 months ago
Commercial support
Paid support available
Live community
0%
No community activity data
Open Source
0%
Closed source
Pricing
Pricing publicly available
Trendiness
Growing or stable trend

Deployment

Containerization
Docker image available
Work as dedicated instance
Can run as standalone server
Work as embedded
0%
Standalone only
Testing in-memory version
0%
No in-memory option

Platform

Operating on Linux
Linux officially supported
Operating on Windows
0%
Not supported
SaaS offering
Cloud service available

Operations

Automatic updates
0%
Manual updates only
Client side caching
Client-side cache available
Data versioning support
Version control for data
Live backups
Hot backup supported

Distribution

Cluster Re-balancing
Auto-rebalancing supported
Data Distribution
Data sharding supported
High-Availability
HA mechanisms available
Query Distribution
Distributed query execution
Replication support
Replication available

Developer Experience

Data types defined
Composite data types
Logging/Auditing
Event logging supported
Object-Graph Mapper
OGM/ORM available
Reactive programming
Reactive streams supported
Documentation up-to-date
Docs current with latest version
Binary protocol
Binary protocol available
CLI
Command-line interface
GUI
Visual interface available

Data Model

Multi-database
Multi-model database
Graph-native data
0%
Graph abstraction layer
REST API
REST endpoint available
Query Language
0%
No query language

Transactions

Granular locking
Object-level locking
Multiple isolation levels
Multiple isolation levels
Read committed transaction
Read committed available
Transaction support
ACID transactions

Schema & Security

Constraints
Full constraint support
Schema support
Schema definition tools
Secondary indexes
Secondary indexes supported
Server side procedures
Stored procedures supported
Triggers
Event triggers supported
Authentication
Authentication supported
Authorization
Role-based access control
Data encryption
Data encryption supported
Sources 8 references

Protocols Native binary, JDBC/ODBC

SQL/graph access (openCypher, GraphScript) runs over HANA's proprietary, documented SQL Command Network Protocol; JDBC and ODBC are vendor-shipped standard connectors, while the Python DB API, Node.js, Ruby and Go drivers speak the binary protocol directly rather than through JDBC/ODBC. Rejected HTTP/REST (pass_B): OData/XMLA are optional web interfaces the application developer must build, not a built-in query channel.

License Proprietary

Confirms current value. SAP's own developer license agreement treats the software as proprietary, with no source code rights granted and reverse engineering prohibited.

Released 2010-11

Refined current value '2010' to '2010-11': SAP's own history page and independent reporting both place first customer shipment in late November 2010.

  • 2010 - SAP HANA was announced and a pre-release version was shipped to select customers in November of that year.
    What is SAP HANA? · reviewed 2026-08-02
  • The first product shipped in late November 2010.
    SAP HANA · reviewed 2026-08-02

Language C++

Confirms current value. A former SAP HANA Core Platform developer's technical blog post states the core is C++; SAP's own docs confirm C++ is used for the Application Function Library layer but don't state the core language as directly.

  • HANA is the in-house database powering many of SAP's products. It is written in C++ with Python tests, and the entire code base lives inside of a single git repository.
    HANA C++ Development Environment and Processes · reviewed 2026-08-02