Ways of SAP system copy: export / import
Downtime
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.
Post system copy rework - The collected information from the system copy prework is evaluated and the corresponding transport requests are reimported. The development status before the system copy is thus restored. In addition, this package includes a tool that, when individual transports are released, checks whether there are any overlaps on the target system with transports that are still open there. This prevents a transport from unintentionally "overtaking" an earlier released one with the same objects.
Key solution steps
Even if the target system is not used for production in an update scenario based on a system copy, it is of central importance for developers and thus also the software lifecycle of the production system. That's why you should avoid upgrade downtime in both the production source system and the non-production target system. Production system downtime depends primarily on the method you use to create the image of the production data to be used in the target system. This image must be a transferable database image - for example, a database export, a backup copy, or an array-based reconciliation. To eliminate downtime in the production system and minimize the impact on application performance-regardless of the size of the production data reconciliation-you can use, for example, HP StorageWorks System Copy for SAP (HP System Copy), which has a disk array-based replication capability. Downtime in the target system depends on the following factors, among others: The time required to restore production data reconciliation in the target system The amount of pre- and post-processing in the target system With HP System Copy, images of production data can be created in minutes, with each step between shutdown and reboot of the target system occurring automatically. However, after the reboot, the target system is not immediately ready for use, as additional steps must first be performed (see description below).
Renaming and restoring the target system database - adjusting file system permissions. Renaming, recovery and startup of the target system database.
With "Shortcut for SAP Systems" you get additional functions for the SAP system copy.
UC4 Automated System Copy can handle most of the post-processing by restoring specific database content customizations (such as security settings, RFC targets, and operating modes) that were downloaded before the upgrade.
It can also accelerate the runtime of some of SAP's longer post-update transactions by analyzing and processing the underlying processes in parallel.