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This unit introduces you to the structure of the mySAP Business Suite family of solutions. Furthermore,
you are given a first overview of the integration and technology patform SAP NetWeaver. Finally, we
will deal with SAP’s release strategy.

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An instance is an administrative unit that combines SAP system components providing one or more
services. The services provided by an instance are started or stopped together. You use a common
instance profile to set parameters for all components of an instance. Each instance has its own buffer
areas.

A system with all processes required to operate the SAP system configured is known as a central system
or central instance. It is possible to create an instance without all processes configured, but it must be part
of a central instance previously created.

The terms SAP instance and Application Server are often used as synonyms.

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The graphic above shows all the processes that are required for error-free operation of an SAP system,
collected on one instance. This instance is distinguished from all other instances of the SAP system and is
also called central instance. This graphic also shows other configured instances. These instances, which
provide specific services, generally run on separate servers, but can also run on the same server, if
required.

The services that an application server can provide are determined by the type of work processes it has.
An application server can then take on several roles, for example, as a dialog server and simultaneously
as a background server, if it provides several dialog work processes and at least one background work
process.

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The following processes exist in the Java environment:
• •The Java dispatcher distributes new incoming Java requests to the Java server processes.
• •The Java server process executes the Java applications. The server processes are implemented in the
form of a Multi Threaded Server and can (in contrast to the ABAP work processes) process several
queries in parallel.
• •The Java message service manages a list of Java dispatchers and server processes. It is responsible for
the communication within the Java runtime environment.
• •The Java enqueue service manages logical locks that are set by the executed Java application program
in a server process.
• •The SAP Java Connector (JCo, not illustrated in the graphic) is responsible for the communication
between the ABAP stack and the Java stack; it enables calls of the ABAP stack from the Java stack as
well as vice versa.

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According to the ABAP programming model, multi-layer architectures can be implemented for enterprise
applications, whereby the application logic is executed on the (ABAP) application server.

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The J2EE application server processes the queries of the clients, executes the application logic and returns the
results to the clients. The application data is accessed at database level. The application logic is, for example,
implemented in the form of ABAP programs or function modules, the server-side presentation logic consists of
dynpros/screens (dynamic programs, consisting of a screen and its flow logic) or business server pages.
According to the J2EE specifications, three-level client/server architectures for business applications can be
implemented, the core of which is the J2EE Application Server.
The J2EE application server processes the queries of the clients, executes the application logic and returns the
results to the clients. The application data is accessed at database level. The application logic is implemented in the
form of Enterprise Java Beans. These are executed in a EJB Container, which is part of the J2EE Application
Server. The communication between the client and the J2EE server is based on Web standards such as HTTP,
HTML and XML. The J2EE-Server uses Java Server Pages (JSP) and Java Servlets, to generate HTML pages and
XML data. Java Server Pages and Java Servlets are executed in a Web Container, which in turn is part of the J2EE
Application Server. Within the HTML pages that are sent to the Web browser, Java applets can be integrated; these
applets are executed in the browser.

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Starting an SAP System is performed in a number of steps and is the task of the operating system
user [SID]adm.

Start the database:

The underlying element of the entire SAP system is the database. Before the SAP instances are started,
this must have operational status. The database is therefore always started as the first step.

Start the central instance:

Next, the operating system collector SAPOSCOL is started, if it is not already active. This is a stand-
alone program that runs in the operating system background, independently of SAP instances. It
collects data about operating system resources and makes this data available through the shared
memory of all SAP instances. The central instance with the message server and the dispatcher and its
work processes is then started. Only once the message and enqueue servers are active can other
instances be started, if desired.

Start other instances:

If the dialog instance is not running on the same host as the central instance, the SAPOSCOL operating
system collector is first started on this host. The dispatcher is then started with its work processes.

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The SAP system uses the concept of services. These are programs that are automatically started and
administered by the operating system. Services provide support to other programs and run even if there
are no users logged on to the host.

The Service Control Manager starts the services installed in the registry during the startup of Microsoft
Windows Server. All services can be configured for automatic startup.
During the installation of the SAP system, SAP and database services are installed in addition to the
operating system services.

SAP Services:
- SAPOSCOL: Collects performance data for one or more SAP instances and runs once for each host.
- SAP[SID]_[instance no.]: Controls the SAP instances and runs once for each instance.

Database Services:
- Create the connection to the database.
- Control DB actions

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Under Microsoft Windows (since Windows 2000 Server), you can start and stop the SAP system with the
Microsoft Management Console (MMC). To do this, the administrator logs on to the operating system as
user [SID]adm, and opens the Microsoft Management Console, choose the node for the central instance
in the tree and call up the context menu with the right mouse button and choose the Start function. The
system first checks whether the database is active. If not, it is automatically started. If the database is
active, the central instance (message server and dispatcher) is started by SAP Service
SAP[SID]_[Instance no.]. The communication between the Microsoft Management Console and the SAP
Service takes place through a named pipe. Other instances can then be started from the same window.

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The status of SAP systems, individual instances, and the message server and dispatcher are displayed in
the Microsoft Management Console in accordance with the previous color legend.

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The stopping of the SAP system happens in the opposite order of the start. There are two ways to stop
instances:
1. In the SAP system itself with the transaction RZ03 by choosing Control - Stop SAP instance.
2. In the Microsoft Management Console, click the right mouse button to show the context menu and
choose the STOP function. Depending on whether you have selected an individual instance or the
entire SAP system, the following are stopped:
• A single instance
• Central instance and all dialog instances
The SAP service waits for a stop message from the MMC or from the CCMS and then stops the SAP
system. The service itself is not stopped.
The services themselves can be stopped and restarted with the Windows Service Control Manager.
The database is stopped using the corresponding database system tool.

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Log on under UNIX as a user with SAP administrator authorization ([SID]adm). To start the central
instance call the shell script startsap_[host]_instance number] in the home directory of the [SID]adm user.
If there is only one instance for each application server, the alias startup points to the script
startsap_[host]_instance number].
The script startsap first starts the saposcol process that collects statistical data for the operating system
that it provides to the SAP system. The next step is a check to see if the database is running. If not, the
script startdb is called to start the database. The final step starts all of the processes for the instance
(message server, dispatcher, work processes, and so on). n After the central instance is started, you can
optionally start other instances. The startsap script can be called with the following options:
- DB: Starts the database system.
- R3: Starts the instances and associated processes for the instance.
- ALL: Starts the database system and the instance (default setting, can be omitted).
To start the SAP system, the startsap script calls the sapstart process with the start profile specified in the
script in the variable START_FILES.

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When you stop the SAP system, you should first stop all dialog instances and then stop the central
instance. There are two ways to do this:
1. From the SAP system using the transaction RZ03.
2. Log on as the SAP administrator ([SID]adm) at operating system level and enter the command
stopsap.
The stopsap script can be called with the following options:
- DB: Stops the database system with the help of the VWRSGEscript.
- R3: stops the instances of the SAP system.
- ALL: Stops the database system and the instance (default setting, can be omitted).

The database can be stopped separately with database tools.

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- Answer the questions

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The ABAP Dispatcher is the central process of the application ABAP. It manages the resources for the
applications written in ABAP in coordination with the respective operating system. The main tasks of the
ABAP dispatcher include the distribution of the transaction load to the work processes, the integration of
the presentation layer and the organization of communication transactions.
The processing requests are first saved in request queues, and processed according to the “first in, first out”
principle.
The ABAP dispatcher distributes the requests one after the other to the available work processes. Data is
actually processed in the work process, although the user who created the request using the SAP GUI is
not always assigned the same work process. There is no fixed assignment of work processes to users. To
process user requests it might be necessary to read data from the ABAP schema of the database or to
write to it. For this, every work process is connected directly to the ABAP schema of the database.
Once the process is complete, the processing result from the work process is sent via the dispatcher back
to the SAP GUI. The SAP GUI interprets the received data and generates the output screen for the user
with the help of the operating system on the front end computer.

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• Dialog work processes fulfill all requests for the execution of dialog steps triggered by an active user.
Every dispatcher requires at least two dialog work processes.
• • pool work processes pass sequential data flows on to printers. Every SAP system requires at least one
S
spool work process, you can also have more than one spool work process per dispatcher.
• • pdate work processes execute update requests. Similarly to spool work processes, you need at least
U
one update work process per SAP system, and you can have more than one per dispatcher.
• • ackground work processes execute programs that run without interacting with the user. You need at
B
least two background work processes for each SAP system. You can configure more than one
background work process for each dispatcher.
• • he enqueue work process administers the lock table in the shared memory. The lock table contains
T
the logical database locks of the ABAP stack of the SAP system. Only one enqueue work process is
needed for each system.

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The ABAP runtime system provides additional services (these are not work processes) for internal and
external communication:

• he message server (MS): handles the communication between the distributed dispatchers within the
T
ABAP stack of an SAP system, thereby enabling scalability of several parallel application servers. The
message server is configured only once per SAP system.

• he gateway server (GW): enables communication between SAP systems, or between SAP systems and
T
external application systems. There is one per dispatcher.

• he Internet Communication Manager (ICM): enables SAP systems to communicate directly with the
T
Internet. The ICM receives requests from the Internet and forwards them to the SAP system for
processing. In doing so, it recognizes whether the request is a call of a BSP or a Java application and
forwards this request to the ABAP runtime environment or the Java runtime environment. It can also
direct HTTP requests from an SAP system to aWeb server and send the response back to the SAP system.
You can configure a maximum of one ICM process per application server (software-based view).

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Note 39412 - How many work processes should be configured?

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The processing of a transaction that consists of multiple screens is usually executed using multiple,
different dialog work processes. This distribution is called work process multiplexing. Work process
multiplexing means that a system function whose content is logically connected but consists of multiple
substeps can be processed by various dialog work processes. These steps, where the content is connected,
are described as transactions. A transaction that consists of multiple screens, such as screens 100 and 200
can also be processed by multiple dialog work processes.

The figure shows two screens of a transaction (100 and 200), for which the input is handled by two
different dialog work processes. The multiplexing procedure is used exclusively for dialog work
processes. All other work process types process entire functions; that is, complete business processes.

As dialog work processes may process only parts of transactions that are connected from a business point
of view; the update procedure with the update work process is widely used in SAP systems.

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- Answer the questions

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