io2 Block Express for SAP HANA Storage — Choosing the Right EBS Volume Type

Quick Answer

When a question asks specifically about optimizing EBS volumes for throughput on SAP HANA data and log volumes, it's pointing at io2 Block Express because it's the storage tier built to deliver both extremes HANA needs at once: extremely high IOPS and high sustained throughput, together with the consistency to keep performance predictable under sustained production load. Here that translates into up to 256,000 IOPS and 4,000 MB/s of throughput per volume, numbers well beyond what general-purpose volume types are designed to sustain, alongside 99.999% durability, which matters because HANA's data and log volumes hold the persisted state a mission-critical database depends on for both performance and recoverability. The throughput-optimized framing in the question is a useful signal in itself: whenever a scenario specifically calls out throughput, not just capacity or cost, as the deciding factor for HANA storage, that's pointing toward the top-tier provisioned volume type rather than a general-purpose or capacity-oriented option. It's also worth noting that HANA's data and log volumes are typically treated the same way in terms of storage tier selection, since both need the same low-latency, high-throughput characteristics even though they serve different roles inside the database engine. The pattern to carry forward is that any HANA storage question emphasizing high throughput, IOPS consistency, or certification for SAP HANA is very likely steering you toward io2 Block Express as the answer, since it's the volume type explicitly designed to meet SAP's own performance bar for production deployments.