What is a primary benefit of using column store in HANA?

The primary benefit of using column store in HANA is efficient data compression. Columnar storage significantly reduces the amount of space needed to store data by only storing the values of each column rather than entire rows. This format allows for more efficient data representation because columns often contain many repeating values. Consequently, data compression techniques can be applied more effectively, leading to less disk space usage and improved performance when querying large datasets.

Additionally, the columnar approach is well-suited for analytic queries, as it allows for the retrieval of only the necessary columns instead of scanning entire rows. This efficiency can lead to faster query performance and improved resource utilization, especially in analytic scenarios where operations typically involve aggregating and summarizing large volumes of data.

In contrast, faster write operations, normalized data organization, and horizontal scaling are not inherent advantages of column store in HANA. While there are scenarios where these aspects could be influenced by the use of a columnar model, they are more relevant to other data storage architectures or operational considerations.