: WhitePaper

Systems management in
SAP NetWeaver environments ®

For a better REAL·IT·y : REALTECH

SAP NetWeaver
Service-oriented IT landscapes are designed to give businesses greater flexibility, and to
simplify application integration. The Enterprise Services Architecture (ESA) from SAP provides
a corresponding architecture, implemented with the help of SAP NetWeaver. SAP NetWeaver
is also the technological basis for the development of new solutions and for the integration
of legacy applications. Moreover, it is the framework for the mySAP Business Suite and SAP
xApps. SAP NetWeaver is fully compatible with Internet standards such as HTTP, XML and
Web Services. The platform's inherent openness also permits seamless interaction with
technologies such as Microsoft.NET and IBM WebSphere.

Fresh challenges for systems management

This new SAP technology places new demands on applications, systems and network
management. Because any SAP NetWeaver landscape comprises multiple layers, monitoring
and management tools need to be both flexible and versatile. In addition, they must be
geared to the specific characteristics of an SAP NetWeaver-based infrastructure. This text
describes the issues facing IT decision-makers and administrators.

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Systems management in
SAP NetWeaver environments
NetWeaver in detail
SAP NetWeaver 2004 essentially comprises the following
components:
· SAP Web Application Server 6.40 (SAP Web AS)
· SAP Enterprise Portal (SAP EP) 6.0
· SAP Exchange Infrastructure (SAP XI) 3.0
· SAP Master Data Management (SAP MDM) 2.0
· SAP Business Information Warehouse (SAP BW) 3.5
· SAP Mobile Infrastructure (SAP MI) 2.5
· SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure
The core components are the SAP Web Application Server, the
SAP Enterprise Portal, and the SAP Exchange Infrastructure.
These are particularly relevant to systems management. Due
to their central importance, the heterogeneous nature of the
technologies involved (multiple processes, data repositories,
etc.) and their distribution throughout the network, they place
very high and very specific demands on systems management
solutions.
SAP Web Application Server (Web AS)
The majority of SAP NetWeaver 2004 application modules are
based on the SAP Web Application Server. Web AS supports
the development and operation of J2EE and ABAP-based
applications and Web Services.
The Web AS is divided into three layers. The presentation layer
enables communication with clients, such as Web browsers.
The business logic level defines business rules and processes.
External connections are made via the integration layer. The
Web AS interacts with external applications via Web Services.
Within an SAP Web AS environment, both conventional RFC
and tRFC (transactional Remote Function Calls) and, via the
J2EE component, Web Services enable links between the
individual SAP NetWeaver components. Any serious disruption
of these links can bring the entire application system to a
standstill. It is therefore vital to monitor this communications
interface and the networks it supports, allowing administrators
to respond rapidly to performance bottlenecks or system failures.
A further highly critical component is the inbound and outbound
queue (transaction SMQ1, SMQ2), which regulates data transfer.
Here as well, a systems management solution is essential if
problems are to be recognized before they cause downtime.
Where all supported technologies and protocols are in use,
there is a far greater need for monitoring than is the case, for
example, with a standard R/3 system.
Web AS in conjunction with J2EE
The Java 2 platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) is the basis for
Java support via the Web AS. For example, J2EE is an efficient
way of implementing Web frontends and mobile clients. It also
allows the rapid and simple integration of clients via standards
such as Web Services.
: WhitePaper
Within any J2EE environment, a central role is played by the
adapter engine. The engine generates the XML files required
for data transfer and exchange. As all communications within
J2EE applications are based on these files, close monitoring of
the adapter engine and of the underlying processes and control
files is exceptionally important.
SAP Enterprise Portal
The SAP Enterprise Portal is designed to provide standardized,
role-based access to all relevant information and functions
throughout the enterprise. It is the user's central point of
entry into the SAP system or other applications. One of its key
advantages is its ability to combine R/3 and mySAP applications.
As is usual with portals, the SAP Enterprise Portal is based on
a conventional Web server. This can be provided by third-party
vendors, such as Microsoft or Apache, and needs to be included
in any systems management concept. Prior to Web AS 3.0, Web
connectivity was achieved via SAP Internet Transaction Server
(SAP ITS), which must be monitored separately. With Web AS
3.0, SAP ITS is integrated, and therefore should be part of the
monitoring concept for the Web AS.
In order to reference data from diverse sources, such as
applications or databases, the SAP Enterprise Portal features
a unification server, which includes a collaboration component.
This supports real-time collaboration amongst teams and
communities via virtual rooms and tools. However, this is not
sufficient for seamless process integration, which calls for the
implementation of the SAP Exchange Infrastructure.
TREX – central indexing and search engine
The TREX (Text Retrieval and Information Extraction) tool is
supplied by SAP with a variety of applications, including the
Knowledge Warehouse and the SAP Enterprise Portal. TREX
facilitates the rapid identification and retrieval of information
held in large data repositories. In conjunction with the portal
as the information hub and the document management system,
the engine is highly important, and its availability and load need
to be closely watched.
Processes at operating system level
Because the portal plays a central role within the SAP NetWeaver
application landscape, a variety of portal processes are also
executed at operating system level. These vary in type according
to the operating system deployed. An effective systems
management solution is needed to identify the corresponding
processes, and to monitor them on the basis of appropriate
thresholds. Moreover, the SAP Enterprise Portal requires
considerable system resources, necessitating the continuous
measurement of CPU and memory usage. The situation is
further complicated when multiple portal instances run on a
single machine. This often the case, for example, when it is
necessary to provide additional protection against outages, or
to ensure load distribution to guarantee consistent response
times during peak loads.

It is therefore common for several instances of SAP Enterprise
Portal to be operated on a single server. For the administrator,
it is difficult to identify which processes are associated with
each portal. Here, as well, a specialized monitoring solution is
required to accurately track portal instance availability.
In addition, it is advisable to employ dedicated monitoring
function for the portal Website, since it is possible for the
Website to be down even when the portal remains up.
SAP Exchange Infrastructure
The SAP Exchange Infrastructure (XI) is the central data hub
within the SAP application landscape. It links SAP applications
to one another, and also allows the integration of external
applications. However, the key focus of the SAP Exchange
Infrastructure is the integration of entire process chains. Business
Process Management capabilities ensure seamless
communication between application modules.
The SAP Exchange Infrastructure is an autonomous Java-based
application that makes use of the SAP J2EE server. Via the
integration broker, it is possible to incorporate heterogeneous
components form a wide variety of vendors. To this end, SAP
XI 3.0 includes an adapter framework and a large selection of
predefined adapters. The solution exchanges data with file
systems, message queuing systems, legacy software and
database systems. It provides the corresponding queuing,
routing and mapping services, and enhanced process control
for functions such as synchronization, separation and
combination of messages. The adapter engine and the adapters
themselves are critical system components that require
continuous near-real-time monitoring.
: WhitePaper
Log viewer: in-depth analysis of log files
SAP provides log files, enabling administrators to analyze SAP
NetWeaver components system states in detail. These files can
be read with the help of the log viewer. State-of-the-art monitoring
solutions streamline this process by automatically analyzing
log files and importing them into the system monitoring tool.
theGuard! provides powerful, end-to-end monitoring
of SAP NetWeaver
As SAP Global Alliance Support Partner, SAP Global Technology
Partner und SAP Software Partner, REALTECH has in-depth
understanding of SAP technology, and extensive hands-on
experience of SAP products. Moreover, to extend its skills and
insight, REALTECH cooperates closely with SAP, whose
headquarters are a stone's throw from REALTECH's own offices.
As a result, the company enjoys unrivalled expertise in SAP
NetWeaver and other SAP solutions. This expertise has been
incorporated into theGuard! System Management Suite. This
has enabled the creation of a solution that combines applications,
systems and network management tasks – the essential basis
for the efficient operation of complex landscapes based on SAP
NetWeaver. theGuard! is the SAP specialist in systems
management!

SAP Master Data Management

SAP Master Data Management (MDM) consolidates master
data throughout the enterprise.

This is a precondition for end-to-end business processes that

transcend departmental and functional barriers. To this end,
SAP MDM identifies identical or highly similar data records.
This information is made available to business processes via
the Master Data Management component. SAP MDM employs
the SAP Exchange Infrastructure in order to gain access to the
various source systems.

Business Intelligence with SAP

SAP Business Intelligence captures, combines and organizes
data from a variety of internal and external sources, and makes
it available to decision-making processes.

An SAP Business Information Warehouse (SAP BW) is designed

like a conventional R/3 system. However, a number of special
characteristics need to be considered. For example, connections
to source systems, for example operated by suppliers, call for
high performance and continuous availability. Extraction and
loading processes must be stable and rapid. Data warehouses
are associated with extremely large volumes of data, and this
requires a database cost-based optimizer to guarantee the
required level of performance.

© 2004 – REALTECH AG
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