On-premises: all involved source/target systems in the company's own data centers
Food for thought for another productive system: until when must the system be identical, keyword: transaction log
SAP SE is a software company that uses the proprietary programming language ABAP. SAP® landscapes include not only production but also Quality Assurance (QA) systems as well as test and other staging systems. For appropriate and consistent testing and acceptance of changes in programs and processes, SAP recommends the "homogeneous system copy" approach to provide non-production systems with up-to-date data.
As mentioned above, an SAP system copy created for updates is a special use case of homogeneous system copy. Here, a production system represents the source and a non-production system with a specific long-term task in the SAP system landscape represents the target. The most common update scenario involves updating a QA system in the SAP transport system.
Differentiation between homogeneous and heterogeneous SAP system copy
The database import can be performed using various tools. Sapinstaller provides a working way to import the database cleanly.
There are now a number of tools that simplify refresh activities of non-production SAP systems. The tools are imported into SAP systems via transports and enable the data to be copied to be written in. The more precise the selection, the greater the potential savings in storage space and extraction time compared to client copy. As with the latter, the configuration is retained and ongoing development and test processes remain undisturbed.
Of course, time savings also mean money savings. In addition, these processes for system copying can be planned, standardized and always run at a high level of process quality using automation tools of this kind. Especially the latter is of great importance in SAP Basis departments (and of course also for service providers). With "Shortcut for SAP Systems", a number of activities in the context of system copies can be carried out and automated. Your SAP Basis administration is thus significantly relieved. Automation also means that SAP Basis Administrators no longer have to work unreasonable hours. The product can be integrated into almost any automation software.
The website www.sap-corner.de offers many useful information about SAP basis.
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.
When copying from a snapshot to file level, the affected systems remain available.