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The principle architecture of a SAP NetWeaver Process Integration landscape is described in the SAP NetWeaver Master Guide and in the SAP NetWeaver Technical Infrastructure Guide on SAP Service Marketplace at service.sap.com/instguidesnw.

This section covers the technical system landscape of the Advanced Adapter Engine Extended (AEX) installation option of SAP NetWeaver PI.

For a high-level view of the technical system landscape, see Advanced Adapter Engine Extended.

The figure below illustrates an AEX landscape:

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text.

Technical System Landscape (Advanced Adapter Engine Extended)

An AEX landscape contains the following groups of components:

  • Messaging components responsible for message processing and protocol handling. These components include the central Advanced Adapter Engine (AAE) and optional non-central Advanced Adapter Engines.

    Note Note

    As additional option not shown in the figure, there is the Adapter Engine (Java SE). It is only supported for compatibility reasons. It hosts only a subset of the adapter functions and does not support standard security features such as security logs or integrated user management. You should only use this Adapter Engine if it is a precondition in your environment.

    End of the note.

  • Tools for design, configuration, administration, and monitoring purposes (Enterprise Services Builder (ES Builder), Integration Builder, System Landscape Directory, SAP NetWeaver Administrator, PI Tools (Eclipse-based)) that require user interaction and are not directly involved in messaging.

  • Back-end systems and business partner systems that act as the sender or receiver of messages.

    Note Note

    By default, Internet Communication Manager (ICM) ports are deactivated in business systems to prevent unwanted system access. When you want to enable communication based on the proxy or web services runtime, you need to activate the corresponding ICM ports in the business systems.

    More information on the Internet Communication Manager: Internet Communication Manager (ICM)

    End of the note.

Concerning security, the following components have to be considered in more detail:

  • Central Advanced Adapter Engine

    This engine connects to senders and receivers that do not speak the XI message protocol. Additional non-central Advanced Adapter Engines can be installed.

  • Non-central Advanced Adapter Engines

    Technically, there are two different types of non-central engines:

    • Advanced Adapter Engine

      This type of Advanced Adapter Engine runs on AS Java. There may be any number of non-central Advanced Adapter Engines.

    • Adapter Engine (Java SE)

      This type of Adapter Engine was already available with XI 2.0. It merely requires a Java Virtual Machine to run.

  • Enterprise Services Builder

    Provides tools for designing an SAP NetWeaver PI landscape.

  • Enterprise Services Repository and Registry

    Contains interfaces and mappings available across several landscapes. The Enterprise Services Repository runs on AS Java.

    The Services Registry is part of the AS Java.

  • Integration Builder

    Provides tools for configuring an SAP NetWeaver PI landscape.

  • Integration Directory

    Contains metadata for a given landscape, such as routing relations, communication channels, and security settings. The Integration Directory runs on AS Java.

  • PI Tools (Eclipse-based)

    The PI Tools plug-ins on the Eclipse platform allow you to perform design and configuration tasks. In particular, you can use this tool to configure integration content based on integration flows.

  • System Landscape Directory

    Describes the components that make up the given landscape.

  • Sender and receiver business systems

    Depending on the message protocol, there are several types of systems:

    • SAP business systems residing on SAP Web Application Server 6.40 or higher.

      These communicate with the Advanced Adapter Engine by using proxies (ABAP or Java).

    • SAP business systems residing on SAP Web Application Server 6.20.

      These incorporate XI 2.0 proxies that enable them to send and receive XML messages in the XI 2.0 message format. The Advanced Adapter Engine maps between XI 2.0 and XI 3.0 message formats.

      Note Note

      XI 3.0 is the XI message format valid for all SAP NetWeaver versions.

      End of the note.

    • SAP business systems residing on SAP Web AS 6.10 or lower

      These do not contain proxies, thus have to communicate with the Advanced Adapter Engine by using RFC and IDoc adapters.

    • Non-SAP business systems

      Any systems that exchange XML messages or other protocols by using the Advanced Adapter Engine. They are connected by using adapters.