Job logic instead of customizing
Hybrid: for example, the source systems on-premises and the target systems on cloud
Administrators and SAP maintainers in the x86 world under Windows and various Unix derivatives can nowadays choose from a wealth of software solutions for system support. In contrast, administrators in the System i world and SAP support staff in this environment are often left to their own devices. Nevertheless, the special system architecture and the peculiarities of the DB2 database integrated in the operating system, as well as the specific applications, also pose challenges for system tool developers.
If the data stocks become obsolete, they can be updated by another system copy. From a technical point of view, such a refresh corresponds to the initial setup, including the associated costs as well as the load on the productive systems and manual rework. In addition, a refresh also interrupts all processes on the target system. If it is a development system, all newer development objects must be saved and transported back in after the copy. The version history is lost in the process.
The Refresh
One example: In an SAP environment, a system copy must be performed for various reasons - until now manually. Such a copy is always required when the QA system of a multi-level SAP architecture has to be brought up to the status of the current production system: Be it for testing new applications or during a release upgrade, for maintenance purposes or for updating the quality assurance and test system. In principle, the task proves to be simple: All files belonging to the clean configuration and implementation of the SAP environment must be transferred from the productive systems to the quality assurance system in the correct order and in the correct directories.
Provide your QA, test and training systems with current production data at the push of a button. Including all preparatory and finishing work - Without interfering with or changing your SAP environment - Without time-consuming pre-planning - With minimum lead time - With consistent copy quality.
"Shortcut for SAP Systems" offers the possibility to backup and restore any tables. Not only those that are considered in the PCA tool (Post Copy Automation) but also self-developed tables. Thanks to the simple and clear interface, backup and restore of self-developed tables can be integrated quickly and easily. The command line interface can also be used to automate the process: for example, a simple line command can be used to perform a complete backup of table contents before the system copy, and a simple line command can also be used to restore these tables after the system copy. This means that the complete backup or restore process can be integrated into any automation software.
This happens in the context of a homogeneous or heterogeneous system copy.
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.
Shutting down and copying virtualized systems, such as VMware instances, requires just a few mouse clicks.