Consistency of database disk blocks - stopping I/O activities or executing DATABASE BEGIN ONLINE BACKUP command, flushing cache, etc.
Planning Guide for the Connector for SAP Landscape Management
System copy of a Unicode system: Source and target system are Unicode systems. The same procedures can be used for the copy, as with the copy of non-Unicode systems.
Over 30 productive systems at more than 9 customers successfully copied using IMIG. For the Unicode conversion of a 4.5 TB system (2.7 TB data) a downtime of 16 hours was achieved (including the follow-up work such as reconfiguration, updating DB statistics, generating reports, creating backups, testing the system).
The target system
SAP recommends that you always update enterprise software in your production system using the SAP transport system and never make changes directly in the production system. In addition, SAP suggests that you validate change transports through a QA system that is approximately identical to the production system and has up-to-date transaction data. Outdated data can affect the validity of change transport tests, which can lead to errors and failures in the production system. However, end-user transaction data is received only from the production system. Such data must therefore be passed regularly throughout the SAP transport chain to ensure that your non-production systems have up-to-date and valid transaction data. This can usually be accomplished by passing a system copy of the production system, created for updates, to the QA system. To reduce the number of test cycles, it is also advisable to update your development system occasionally.
The task of a system copy created for updates is a carefully integrated system that takes on a specific role in an SAP system landscape. That is why customizing the SAP database of the target system differs significantly from customizing the database of the production system. In a system copy-based update, the database of the target system is completely overwritten with the contents of the production system. Therefore, all SAP-specific customization of the target system must be performed after the update with the system copy. The pre- and post-processing is often performed manually while the target system is running. Specific SAP transactions are used to customize the system. Execution can take a long time and is a source of human error. To automate most transactions, UC4 Automated System Copy for SAP can also be used. Before the update, UC4 Automated System Copy takes care of downloading the required content for the SAP customization from the target system and after the update is complete, uploading the content back to the system.
If you have used "Shortcut for SAP Systems" to save system-specific tables before the system refresh, several manual steps can be omitted - the data can be restored by restoring the data saved before the system copy.
This cannot be done directly in the production system, but must first be extensively tested, which in turn requires data that is as realistic as possible.
The website www.sap-corner.de offers many useful information about SAP basis.
The same procedures can be used for the copy, as with the copy of non-Unicode systems.