SAP Tutorial - Part 11 - SAP Landscape

SAP Landscape Introduction

Landscape is like a server system or like a layout of the servers or some may even call it the architecture of the servers viz. SAP is divided into three different landscape DEV, QAS and PROD.

- DEV would have multiple clients for ex: 190- Sandbox, 100- Golden, 180- Unit Test.
- QAS may again have multiple clients for ex: 300- Integration Test, 700 to 710 Training.
- PROD may have something like a 200 Production.

These names and numbers are the implementer's discreet on how they want it or they have been using in their previous implementations or how is the client's business scenario.

Now whatever you do in the Sandbox doesn't affect the other servers or clients. Whenever you think you are satisfied with your configuration and you think you can use it moving forward, you RE-DO it in the golden client (remember, this is a very neat and clean client and you cannot use it for rough usage). As you re-do everything that you had thought was important and usable, you get a transport request pop up upon saving every time. You save it under a transport request and give your description to it. Thus the configuration is transported to the Unit Test client (180 in this example).

You don't run any transaction or even use the SAP Easy Access screen on the 100 (golden) client. This is a configuration only client. Now upon a successful transport by the Basis guy, you have all the configuration in the Testing client, just as it is in the Golden client. The configuration remains in sync between these two clients.

But in the Testing client you can not even access SPRO (Display IMG) screen. It's a transaction only client where you perform the unit test. Upon a satisfactory unit test, you move the good configuration to the next SERVER (DEV). The incorrect or unsatisfactory configuration is corrected in Golden (may again as well be practiced in the sandbox prior to Golden) and accordingly transported back to 180 (Unit Test) until the unit test affected by that particular Config is satisfactory.

The Golden client remains the 'database' (if you want to call it that) or you may rather call it the 'ultimate' reference client for all the good, complete and final configuration that is being used in the implementation.


SAP System Landscape Directory

Purpose

A modern computing environment consists of a number of hardware and software components that depend on each other with regard to installation, software updates, and demands on interfaces. The SAP System Landscape Directory (SLD) simplifies the administration of your system landscape.

The SLD is a server application that communicates with a client application by using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The SLD server contains component information, a landscape description, and a name reservation, which are based on the standard Common Information Model (CIM). The CIM standard is a general schema for describing the elements in a system landscape. This standard is independent of any implementation.

Features

The component description provides information about all available SAP software modules. This includes version numbers, current patch level, and dependencies between landscape components. SAP makes this information available to its customers. You can download the current component description from SAP Service Marketplace, which then updates your local component description (see SAP Note 669669). It is also possible to add instances for third-party components to the component description.

The system landscape description represents the exact model of an actual system landscape. Together with the current component description, the system description provides information for various processes (the system administration and implementation, for example).

The example below shows a possible scenario that illustrates how the component and system landscape description functions.

Example

On the left-hand side of the following graphic is the master description for all existing SAP software modules. SAP maintains this information. The local component description on the right-hand side (client side) can be updated in accordance with the master description.

An installed mySAP.com component is registered in the System Landscape Directory. The component description contains information about the installed components. If, for example, a new Support Package is available for this component, SAP publishes this information using the master description. In this way, the customers receive all the latest information relevant for their system landscape promptly.