Which certified hardware components are found in the SAP HANA hardware directory?

The correct answer includes appliances as these are the certified hardware components explicitly listed in the SAP HANA hardware directory. The SAP HANA hardware directory serves as a reliable reference for customers looking to ensure their hardware setups are optimized for SAP HANA environments. Appliances encompass an entire system that includes the necessary components — processors, memory, storage, and networking — all pre-configured and validated for SAP HANA.

Choosing appliances over other components reflects the holistic nature of the SAP HANA architecture, where it's crucial that all components work together seamlessly to achieve the performance and reliability expected from a database system. This ensures that organizations can run their applications efficiently with the support of hardware that has been thoroughly tested and validated.

In contrast, focusing solely on CPUs, networking devices, or memory modules does not capture the complete picture of what is required for a well-functioning SAP HANA environment. These individual components might be part of an appliance, but without the integrated system approach of appliances, they cannot guarantee the same level of certification and optimization required for SAP HANA workloads.