SQL is a database run by Microsoft, while HANA is a database run by SAP. This means that new innovations by SAP will be developed for and deployed in HANA (and will not be available on SQL).
While HANA is slightly pricier than SQL, it offers more functionalities such as additional dashboards for finance, sales and marketing, purchasing and customer service, an enterprise “Google-like” search function and more. HANA also does not require a separate database for analytics, unlike SQL, hence it is significantly less complex than the SQL database.
In fact, with HANA’s in-memory database, you will gain faster access to the information you need as HANA’s data is stored directly on RAM memory chips close to the processor as compared to SQL’s data which is store on a hard-disk. Access times for data on RAM is 100 times faster compared to access times for hard-disk. The difference becomes specifically visible as the number of users and transactions grows.
Read our blog to find out more.