SAP system startup and shutdown, including virtual hosts
Automation tool reduces time required to create test environments
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.
A non-production SAP system should also have the same repository status as the source system, regardless of the data transfer method chosen for the refresh. All the data that makes up an SAP system is stored in the repository. This includes, among other things, the definitions for the database fields and tables for master and transaction data.
SAP SYSTEM COPY - in a nutshell
For a heterogeneous system copy and for homogeneous system copies for which there is no special way for the database used, the source system must be exported. This is done with SAP tools (SUM). The export files are copied to the prepared target system and imported again during the SAP installation with SUM. A relatively comfortable way. But it can be even more comfortable.
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Basically, a distinction is made between the initial setup and refresh of a non-productive SAP system. In the past, the cost of a refresh, i.e., updating the environment with new data, often corresponded to the cost of the initial setup. This also restricted the availability of the productive system, which is hardly tolerable for companies that operate internationally and in different time zones.
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!
To do this, you need development, consolidation, and quality assurance (QA) systems that can provide the production system with the appropriate updates as SAP transports.
Nevertheless, once created copy jobs can be reused, which minimizes the maintenance effort and a certain susceptibility to errors.