Content Management Service (BC-SRV-KPR) 

Purpose

The various storage media that can be used to store document objects all offer different advantages with regard to the storage quality. Quality aspects include security, lower costs, and higher performance.

The Content Management Service (CMS) is a service within the IT infrastructure provided by Knowledge Provider within the framework of SAP Web Application Server The central feature of the CMS is that it is designed to be compatible with different types of storage media. In other words, the CMS functions as an interface between content servers and the SAP system.

Also, the CMS can be used to cache documents and integrate cache servers.

Implementation Notes

In order to be able to deploy cache servers in a Knowledge Provider environment, you must make certain settings in the SAP system:

·        A range of transactions are available to administrators for defining general administrative settings and for monitoring the various content servers, cache servers, and Web servers. For further information, see Content and Cache Server Administration and Content and Cache Server Monitoring.

·        The system administrator has to make certain settings when setting up the system. These are known as Customizing settings. In Customizing, you can do the following:

¡        Implement the SAP functionality in your company quickly, reliably, and economically

¡        Tailor the global functionality shipped with the system to the specific business requirements of your company

¡        Document and control the implementation and adaptation phases with an easy-to-use project management tool

Customizing must be carried out before the system goes live and is carried out in the SAP system using the Implementation Guide (IMG). The individual Customizing activities are contained in the SAP Reference IMG, which you can access under SAP Web Application Server → Basis Services → SAP Knowledge Provider. You can call up the relevant transaction from the IMG by simply choosing  Execute. To display the online Help, simply choose  Documentation. The main IMG activities for content servers and caching are grouped under the headings Content Management Service and Distribution.

Features

The CMS provides the following services:

·        Integration of various external storage media and decoupling of the application-related layer of the Document Management Service (DMS) from the storage media, that is:

¡        SAP system database

¡        Content Server

The static content can be stored either on the SAP Content Server or on external content server to which the CMS has a suitable interface. Different types of external content servers can be integrated.

·        Content retrieval via a HTTP interface:

All document access on the client is conducted via HTTP. The CMS supplies the client with the appropriate access URLs that point to the document required. The HTTP Content Server protocol is the only access path to document stored on the Content Server.

The protocol specification (see also SAP Content Server HTTP 4.5 Interface), published by SAP, contains the following information:

-         A number of command URLs, which the Knowledge Provider client uses to store documents on a content server and then access them as required

-         Security mechanisms to protect documents from being accessed using forged URLs

-         The structure of the request body and response body, which are transferred between the client and the server

-         The action taken by the server in the case of incorrect client requests

To be Knowledge Provider-compliant, a content server has to support this protocol in its entirety.

Once this prerequisite is fulfilled, the result is a comprehensive and simple infrastructure that is largely independent of content servers and clients. The HTTP Content Server is designed in such a way that the characteristics of the concrete storage medium are completely transparent to the SAP system and to the client.This means that a content server can use, for example, an optical archive or a database as a storage medium.

SAP also provides certification for the HTTP Content Server Interface within the framework of the Software Partner Program.

·        Central administration of the SAP Content Server and administration of cache servers

Administration can be carried out directly from the SAP system. Special tools have been developed for monitoring and administrating the SAP DB underlying the SAP Content Server.

For further information see SAP Content Server Administration.

·        Monitoring in the framework of the Computing Center Management System (CCMS)

For further information see Content Server and Cache Server Monitoring.

·        SAP Content Server

SAP provides a standard content server that can be installed separately on an NT server (sieseehe SAP Content Server).

·        Cache Server

Any number of content servers can be installed in different locations.The contents are transferred directly between the client and content server. If the content servers are accessed from different locations that are linked only via a wide area network (WAN), cache servers should be used. Network traffic across the WAN can be reduced to a minimum and performance enhanced by installing at least one cache server at each location.

A client cache is also available on the user's front-end computer.

For further information see Knowledge Provider and Caching.

·        The other Knowledge Provider services are not affected by the specific features of the various storage system types

·        Likewise, the Knowledge Provider client applications are not affected by the specific features of the various storage system types.

Areas of Application

The CMS is used internally by Knowledge Provider to separate the SAP applications that use Knowledge Provider document management functionality and the Knowledge Provider itself from the various types of storage media. This ensures that the Knowledge Provider operates independently of the content servers.