Applicability of Systemcopy as a Service
Job logic instead of customizing
The Migration Monitor: is a standalone tool implemented in Java, takes over the management and control of the R3load processes, is downward compatible. Use the latest Migration Monitor version of the highest release!
Normally, therefore, the target system is created using a copy of the production system. The advantages here are: After the initial setup, data is already available, and users receive a completely identical test environment. However, the disadvantages of this procedure are the high memory requirements, the lack of anonymization of the data and the long runtime of the copy process.
On-premises: all involved source/target systems in the company's own data centers
Such system copies, with their enormous manual effort and SAP checklists that are often hundreds of items long, must be performed before every refresh. Usually, three to four days have to be planned for this, during which the QA system - which in two-tier SAP environments is also the development system - is not available for the actual work. The delay is actually only caused by the meticulous matching of trivial things, such as directory names. Because such SAP system copies have to be created for each SAP application on the QA system and can thus quickly require dozens of system copies, they tie up a lot of resources and staff.
One of the most common methods of creating an SAP system copy is to use SAP's own tool "BR*Tools". This tool provides the ability to create a backup of the database, which can then be used to restore the system. It can also be used to export certain data from the database and import it into another system.
With "Shortcut for SAP Systems" any tables can be saved and restored. This is especially useful in the context of an SAP system copy - quite a few tables are system-specific and must exist unchanged in the system after a system copy.Shortcut for SAP Systems uses R3trans - a utility from SAP that is essentially used in the Transport Management System (TMS) environment. With "Shortcut for SAP Systems" it is now also available outside the TMS and enables completely new and diverse application possibilities. Among others in the environment of a system copy. R3trans works database independent. I.e. even in the case of a system refresh from an SAP system with an Oracle DB to a system with HANA, the backup and restore process works!
SAP environments can quickly become time-consuming.
Understanding the structure and functioning of the system is especially important for IT administration. It is not for nothing that "SAP Basis Administrator" is a separate professional field. On the page www.sap-corner.de you will find useful information on this topic.
In connection with Unicode must be differentiated between the system copy of a Unicode system and the Unicode conversion.