Several advantages at once
Ways of SAP system copy: export / import
SAP recommends that you always update enterprise software in your production system using the SAP transport system and never make changes directly in the production system. In addition, SAP suggests that you validate change transports through a QA system that is approximately identical to the production system and has up-to-date transaction data. Outdated data can affect the validity of change transport tests, which can lead to errors and failures in the production system. However, end-user transaction data is received only from the production system. Such data must therefore be passed regularly throughout the SAP transport chain to ensure that your non-production systems have up-to-date and valid transaction data. This can usually be accomplished by passing a system copy of the production system, created for updates, to the QA system. To reduce the number of test cycles, it is also advisable to update your development system occasionally.
In SAP, the admin must be happy to build new landscapes so that testing, development and enhancement can take place. In a system copy, the approaches are as colorful and varied as the philosophies of the administrators. The important thing is to think about the target system before building it. After all, after the database is removed and the system is rebuilt, there will be two identical systems on the network.
SAP system copies and the DSGVO
One of the most common methods of creating an SAP system copy is to use SAP's own tool "BR*Tools". This tool provides the ability to create a backup of the database, which can then be used to restore the system. It can also be used to export certain data from the database and import it into another system.
The suite idea has established itself here as well as in many other software areas. And for good reasons. In addition, such automation tools are moving even more strongly in the direction of the IT topic of system management.
With "Shortcut for SAP Systems" any tables can be saved and restored. This is especially useful in the context of an SAP system copy - quite a few tables are system-specific and must exist unchanged in the system after a system copy.Shortcut for SAP Systems uses R3trans - a utility from SAP that is essentially used in the Transport Management System (TMS) environment. With "Shortcut for SAP Systems" it is now also available outside the TMS and enables completely new and diverse application possibilities. Among others in the environment of a system copy. R3trans works database independent. I.e. even in the case of a system refresh from an SAP system with an Oracle DB to a system with HANA, the backup and restore process works!
Usually, three to four days have to be planned for this, during which the QA system - which in two-tier SAP environments is also the development system - is not available for the actual work.
Perform database dump, if necessary with transaction log, if possible with downtime, then without jobs or stop running jobs with report BTCTRNS1.