Applicability of Systemcopy as a Service
Copying needs to be done skillfully
The process of creating system copies for updates can be broken down into different activities, as shown in Table 1. For each group, the software used for automation is shown, where "UC4" stands for UC4 Automated System Copy and "HP" stands for HP System Copy. All these activity groups are described individually below.
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).
Import of delta statuses after SAP system copy / restore
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.
An SAP system copy is an important part of a company's IT operations, as it helps reduce the risk of data loss. However, it is important to regularly schedule and monitor the creation of system copies to ensure that a working copy of the system is available in the event of an emergency.
Tools such as "Shortcut for SAP Systems" are extremely useful in SAP system copy.
For transport, the tool uses Idocs, which, however, can only be used to transfer small amounts of test data.
Advantages: significant reduction of manual pre- and post-processing, documented, automatable and reproducible, quality assurance, in the productive system, customer-specific adaptations of the processes possible, individual templates can be created for each target system, no training necessary.