OPTIMIZING HTTP SESSION PERSISTENCE IN SAP SUCCESS FACTORS LEARNING: TRANSITIONING FROM HANA DB TO REDIS FOR ENHANCED PERFORMANCE AND SCALABILITY

SAP SuccessFactors Learning, a core component of the HCM suite, faces significant challenges
with its current HTTP session persistence model, which relies on HANA DB. This approach
generates approximately 2.4 million daily SQL queries, leading to high CPU and I/O overhead,
increased latency, and scalability limitations. Furthermore, during node failures, session
continuity can be disrupted, impacting user experience and requiring costly database operations to
recover.
To address these challenges, this paper proposes transitioning session persistence from HANA DB
to Redis, an in-memory data store known for its low-latency operations and scalability. Redis’
key-value structure efficiently manages session objects, supports automated expiration, and offers
high availability through clustering. Preliminary benchmarks indicate a potential 30–40%
reduction in database resource usage and a 20–25% improvement in application latency under
high traffic scenarios.
By offloading session management to Redis, SAP SuccessFactors Learning can achieve enhanced
scalability, reliability, and cost efficiency, aligning with enterprise goals. This research
demonstrates how Redis can transform session persistence in large-scale distributed systems