Consistency of database disk blocks - stopping I/O activities or executing DATABASE BEGIN ONLINE BACKUP command, flushing cache, etc.
Detailed checks for critical order contents
For virtually all customers using SAP Business Suite (including All-in-One solutions), the creation of SAP system copies is in and of itself a firmly established task area. In concrete terms, the doing usually has to be performed by the SAP Basis within IT, in addition to many other activities.
The third-party providers have adapted their tools to various special areas. For example, the "Clone & Test" tool from Pecaso, which is now part of Accenture, specializes in transferring data from SAP's HR module. In addition to HR data, the "Data Sync Manager" from the provider Epi-Use makes it possible to select additional objects from the areas of accounting and logistics. As with TDMS, "Infoshuttle" from Gamma Enterprise Technologies gives users the option of selecting any data from the SAP system. For transport, the tool uses Idocs, which, however, can only be used to transfer small amounts of test data. SNP's "Data Distillery" can either write extracted data directly into the tables of the target system via RFC or generate an export file that can be imported into target systems multiple times. In the source system, users can select by objects, processes and transactions. Further selection options, for example by organizational units or fiscal year, allow a percentage of the data to be filtered out of the system as consistent test data.
Automate SAP system copies
Often, the development and test systems of an SAP landscape are far removed from the status of the productive systems used on a daily basis: Outdated developments, customizing settings and master data reduce the quality and trustworthiness of test and emergency scenarios. It also becomes increasingly difficult to make reliable statements about the behavior of the production system after changes in customizing.
Until now, it has been common practice to create test systems as a client or system copy of the production system on a specific date. In these cases, a single client or the entire SAP system is duplicated. The corresponding instances of the SAP system have to be reinstalled. In addition, a copy of the source database must be created. These are standard procedures, but they can be disproportionately expensive for productive data sets of several terabytes. SAP and third-party tools for selective data extraction can significantly reduce the cost of deploying non-production SAP systems.
To shorten the list of activities and to simplify the complete process of a system copy or a system refresh and to save manual activities, you can use "Shortcut for SAP Systems". Several manual activities can be omitted because with "Shortcut for SAP Systems" the system-specific data can be saved before the copy and imported again afterwards - also automated. This reduces the error-proneness that is inevitably caused by manual activities and enormously reduces the time span until the system is available again.
One of the most common methods of creating an SAP system copy is to use SAP's own tool "BR*Tools".
On www.sap-corner.de you will also find useful information about SAP basis.
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