SAP SYSTEM COPY - in a nutshell
SAP SYSTEM COPY - A BEFORE AND AFTER GUIDE
An SAP system copy usually includes both the copy of the database and the copy of the file systems that contain the SAP system. There are several ways to create a system copy of an SAP system, depending on the type of database and operating system used.
Heterogeneous system copy: As the name suggests, the operating system and/or database on the source and target systems are different. One takes thus in the context of the copy a platform change. This procedure is currently gaining in relevance, as it is required for the migration from SAP ERP to S/4HANA. If the current system runs on Windows Server and SQL Server or Oracle, the target system must now run on Linux and SAP Hana.
Shutting Down the Target System
RFC data transfer was completed within 1 day. Effort decreases from 1st test to 2nd test to final copy.
Such system copies, with their enormous manual effort and SAP checklists that are often hundreds of items long, must be performed before every refresh. Usually, three to four days have to be planned for this, during which the QA system - which in two-tier SAP environments is also the development system - is not available for the actual work. The delay is actually only caused by the meticulous matching of trivial things, such as directory names. Because such SAP system copies have to be created for each SAP application on the QA system and can thus quickly require dozens of system copies, they tie up a lot of resources and staff.
There is a useful product for SAP system copy - "Shortcut for SAP Systems".
If you want to get more information about SAP basis, visit the website www.sap-corner.de.
An alternative to this is a refresh using a client copy.
Cleanup of target system database contents - removal of source system specific database contents to allow the target system to boot without disrupting production processes.