Post
Processing
Purpose
In the IT process Post Processing you carry out different tasks necessary after archiving. These include the monitoring and managing of archiving jobs, the creation and filling of indexes for accessing archived data, and the reorganization of different database tables. The deletion of archived data is also part of the post processing tasks. In the context of legal compliance, some archived data can be deleted completely once the data retention period has been fulfilled. In other cases the law even requires companies to delete the archived data after a certain number of years; for example certain data in Human Resources.
Use of the Process
This IT process is part of the following IT Scenario:
IT Scenario |
Scenario Variant |
Prerequisites
You have archived your data.
Process Flow
1. Monitoring and Managing Archiving Jobs
After archiving you monitor and manage your archiving activities using the Data Archiving Monitor (transaction SAR_SHOW_MONITOR). This tool provides an overview of all archiving objects that were used in your archiving sessions, detailed information about the different archiving sessions and a progress report on the processing of archive files. The Data Archiving Monitor must be activated in Cross-Archiving-Object Customizing in order for the relevant information to be generated.
The Data Archiving Monitor is part of the CCMS Monitor group (transaction RZ20). After calling the transaction choose SAP CCMS Monitor Templates ® Database ® Data Archiving.
2. Creating AS Indexes (ADK-based archiving)
After archiving you must create and fill different indexes to ensure that archived data can be accessed. Use the Archive Information System (transaction SARI) to configure archive information structures (archive indexes), fill them with data from the archive and search for archived data. To be able to access archived data later you must fill the corresponding infostructure. This can be done either automatically during the delete phase or manually after archiving.
3. Reorganizing Database Indexes and Analyzing whether a Table Reorganization is Necessary
In this step you perform database index and table reorganizations. This ensures that the database space you gained back through data archiving can be reused in the most optimized manner possible. Depending on the criteria you used to archive your data, it may happen that only few records have been removed from certain database blocks. If this is the case the blocks might not be "emptied” sufficiently and are therefore not yet available for reuse. A reorganization of certain tables can help you free up the emptied database blocks again for new data.
4. Deleting Archived Data (optional)
This step is necessary as part of your legal compliance strategy. According to different laws, many data records have to be retained for specific periods of time, for example 10 years, and can then be deleted immediately as soon as this time period has been fulfilled. In some cases, the law requires that the records be deleted as soon as the retention period has been fulfilled.
The deletion of archived data is much easier if the data has been organized accordingly. This means that you must plan the organization of your archived data before you begin archiving, so that you can segregate the data into different content repositories or collections (XML-based archiving). For this purpose data archiving provides the Archive Routing function.
Result
You have gained an overview of the different archiving jobs and are managing them as part of your archiving project. You can access the data you have archived using the archive information structures you created and you are reusing the database space you gained through data archiving, due to the index and table reorganizations you performed. You are meeting legal data retention requirements and are deleting your archived data as soon as the required period has been fulfilled (optional).