SAP NetWeaver Application Server can be installed in various specifications depending on the SAP product and applications used. A distinction is made between ABAP systems, Java systems, and dual-stack systems. Depending on the SAP product used, not every specification may be available. The components of an DUAL stack system are listed below. Optional components, such as SAP Web Dispatcher, are listed too.
Component |
Description |
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Application server component that receives and dispatches Web requests (HTTP(S), SMTP,…). ICM evaluates the URL and forwards requests to AS ABAP or AS Java accordingly. |
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Standalone program installed in the DMZ (demilitarized zone) that acts as a point of entry for Web requests. Web Dispatcher balances the load across the application servers and can also perform other monitoring tasks. |
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SAP Gateway carries out RFC services based on TCP/IP within the SAP environment. These services enable SAP Systems and external programs to communicate with one another. RFC services can be used either in the ABAP program or for the external programs using the interfaces. RFC can be used between processes of an instance or a system, or between systems. |
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Only one message server can run in each SAP system. It performs the following tasks in the SAP system:
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Tool that protects the network against attacks |
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Part of the central instance (ABAP or Java) that manages the SAP locks. In combination with the enqueue replication server, this single point-of-failure can be made into a high availability solution. |
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The SAP start service provides the following functions for monitoring SAP systems, instances, and processes.
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The task handler controls the work process and manages its resources if the work process was instructed by the Dispatcher to process a specific ABAP program. |
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ABAP Work Process: Update |
The update system is used to lighten the workload of the SAP transactions when time-consuming changes are made to the database. These are then carried out asynchronously in special updating work processes. The update system also avoids rollback problems that occur as a result of the differences between the logical units of work (LUW) in an SAP transaction and in the database. |
ABAP Work Process: Lock Concept |
The SAP system is equipped with a special lock mechanism that synchronizes database access. It prevents two parallel transactions from being able to change the same data in the database. |
The following are among the main tasks of the SAP spool system:
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ABAP Work Process: Background Processing |
This component enables background jobs to be processed with the Computing Center Management System (CCMS). CCMS provides extensive support with scheduling and managing background jobs. |
The Java startup and control framework is used to start, stop, and monitor a Java Instance. The Java startup and control framework consists of the JControl and JLaunch programs. JLaunch is started by JControl, and JLaunch itself starts the bootstrap Java program or an element of the Java cluster (dispatcher or server process). |
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Java Server Process |
The server processes of the J2EE Engine execute the J2EE application. Each server process is multi-threaded, and can therefore run multiple requests in parallel. |