In order to increase system speed and usability, resulting in a shorter response time, SAP promotes Data Archiving. Read further to know more about it.
WHAT IS SAP DATA ARCHIVING?
SAP Data Archiving is a mechanism that SAP supports for removing business-complete application data from the database in a consistent, safe, and thorough manner and storing it in a way that it may be accessed in the future. The act of moving data and supporting documents from the SAP system to an external source (in open text) for deletion and/or storage for later retrieval is referred to as “archiving.”
Data archiving occurs in stages to guarantee that only correctly archived data may be erased. The three significant steps are as follows:
- Writing the archived data to a new archive file
- Keeping the archive files in a separate location
- Starting with the archived files you produced, delete the archived data from the database.
WHAT ARE ARCHIVING OBJECTS?
SAP Data Archiving relies heavily on the archiving object. The archiving object describes which data is archived and how it is archived. It specifies which database objects must be treated as a single business entity and analyses the data regardless of technological specifications at the time of archiving (such as release and hardware). SAP’s data archiving idea is mainly based on the Archive Development Kit’s (ADK) archiving objects.
An archiving object can have a name of up to 10 characters. This name is required to carry out archiving operations in archive administration (T-code SARA). However, the function for launching data archiving is frequently incorporated in the application menu, where the archiving object name is specified as the default, so you don’t have to input it yourself.
WHAT IS THE ARCHIVE DEVELOPMENT KIT (ADK)?
The technological structure and foundation for SAP’s data archiving solution are the Archive Development Kit (ADK), which is included with SAP NetWeaver. ADK is a development environment as well as an Application Programme Interface (API) between SAP applications, databases, and archive files where your data is saved. It is included in all basic mySAP.com e-business solutions and is utilized by SAP. ADK ensures that data archiving is independent of hardware and release changes and supplies you with the data archiving capabilities you require.
Some features of the ADK are mentioned below:
- The Archive Administration function allows you to manage all of your archiving applications (write, delete, read, and reload) and generate background jobs for them. You may also manage your archiving sessions, adjust Customizing settings, pause and resume archiving sessions, see data archiving statistics, and view a network visual for your archiving object in Archive Administration.
- ADK comes with an application programming interface (API) that may be used to create your own archiving programmes. The specification of an Archiving Object, which describes which tables compose a business object, provides the foundation for the construction of archiving software.
- There are also archiving-specific function modules available. The ADK Interface and Class Interface function modules are provided. These function modules offer data archiving functions such as automatic job scheduling, file management using the SAP Content Management Infrastructure, automatic conversion of archived data, compression during archiving, connection to a storage system, ability to archive while the system is running, and access to individual data objects in the archive.
BENEFITS OF SAP DATA ARCHIVING
A few benefits of SAP Data Archiving are listed below:
Improved Database Performance: With a data archive, you not only lower the high expenses of extending the in-memory database in SAP, but you also lessen the pressure on the running system’s memory. No longer needed information does not impede the performance of the ERP system’s database, allowing the entire system to operate better and internal corporate operations to be quickened.
Adherence to Legal Data Protection Requirements: The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is another stringent obligation for businesses, bringing extra hurdles into the data processing. By offering a validated interface to SAP Information Lifecycle Management, smart data archiving enables enterprises to handle personal files and records in a GDPR-compliant way.
Avoid Duplicate Data and Documents: Data from across all platforms and workflows are linked to the archive thanks to certified interfaces to your ERP software. You may achieve integrated document management for all operations with the aid of the data archive, making redundant data and documents a thing of the past.
Data Volume Reduction in Running Applications: When there are more digital documents, SAP’s systems become overburdened with data, eventually wasting resources. If a data set’s function inside a business process has been met, it makes little sense for it to continue in the current file system or database. With a data archive, you can accurately save all data throughout its life cycle. This implies that when the end of purpose (EoP) is reached, data is relocated from the running programmes’ active memory to the archive.
Savings in Cost and Capacity in the System Landscape: Companies are no longer reliant on the isolated solutions of specific archiving software when they have a complete archive for their whole range of corporate applications. This has numerous advantages: it reduces the need for extra software licences, it reduces the need for training, and it eliminates the relatively high administrative effort required to manage the various systems.
WHAT DOES THE IDEAL SAP ARCHIVING PROCESS ENTAIL?
Following the practises listed below will ensure the effective installation of the SAP data archiving solution. Even if the following requirements are met, frequent data validation and testing should be performed to ensure that the data archiving system is delivering the desired business benefit.
- The performance of the active transactional database must be enhanced.
- There must be complete data protection against loss, illegal access, and corruption.
- Overall storage expenses must be reduced.
- All regulatory, legislative, and business standards must be satisfied.
- Reduce the administrative load by automating a substantial portion of the procedure.
- Allow for reporting capabilities as well as the much-needed validation requirements.
- Data that has been archived should be easily retrievable.
- Successfully managing any programme upgrades and modifications that are likely to have an impact on the archived dataset
- Finally, it should automatically delete obsolete data.
cbs DATA ARCHIVING
With cbs, you will be able to retain data according to legal and compliance requirements using SAP Standard Archiving functionality. This will also allow Improvement of system performance and responsiveness during creation of backups and client copies. And also, you can create governed archiving strategy based on best practice know-how as well as Business Process experience in various industry sectors.
cbs Data Archiving Service consist of,
- SAP Optical Archiving: Storage of original documents in electronic form on external storage system (e.g. scanned invoices) via archive link
- SAP Document Archiving: Arching of completed business transaction that have no relevance for the operative business anymore, but retained due to legal requirements using SAP Archiving Framework
- Housekeeping: Identifying and scheduling of SAP recommended clean-up or reorganization task, reducing the volume of non-business critical data and execution via SAP BASIS
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