SAP SYSTEM COPY - in a nutshell
What is System Copy as a Service?
To build a target system that can be used for testing, development and training purposes, there are two different approaches: Users can reinstall an SAP system and import all transports and support packages that have also made it into the production system to date. However, when their number reaches the hundreds and thousands, the effort becomes disproportionately high. In addition, the data still has to be imported from the production system, for example via a client copy.
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.
DB-specific methods: - for DB-homogeneous system copies - no Unicode conversion possible!
Advantage of the system copy: Users receive one hundred percent consistent test data. A disadvantage, however, is the high storage space requirement of such a test system, which corresponds to that of the productive system. In addition, an authorization concept for the system copy is required to protect the authentic data it contains. Otherwise, company secrets are at risk, and there is a violation of regulations such as the Federal Data Protection Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Shutting down and copying virtualized systems, such as VMware instances, requires just a few mouse clicks. VMware is suitable for running multiple training, development and test environments on one physical system. Larger productive systems, on the other hand, are not so easy to virtualize. If users have to shut down the productive system during the copy, the runtime of the operation or the unavailability of the productive system becomes a critical factor.
SAP system copy can be done easier and faster with "Shortcut for SAP Systems".
In addition, these processes for system copying using such automation tools can be planned, standardized and always run at a high level of process quality.
An important first step is to integrate the BDLS run into the system copy.