System Landscape

Using analytical apps, you get an insight into real-time operations of your business by displaying key figures directly in your browser. To do this, analytical apps combine the data and analytical power of SAP HANA with the integration and interface components of SAP Business Suite. They provide holistic real-time information on big volume data in a simplified front end for enterprise control. Thus, your company is able to closely monitor your most important KPIs in real time and react immediately on changes in market conditions or operations.

You can use the delivered key performance indicators (KPIs) and insight-to-action scenarios or, for SAP Smart Business apps, define your own ones based on the KPI framework.

The apps run only on an SAP HANA database following the SAP HANA live (2-tier) architecture using virtual data models (VDM).

The following graphic gives an architectural overview of the analytical apps.

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text.

System Landscape for Analytical Apps

Components of the System Landscape

Depending on the app type, the following components are used:

Client

To be able to run SAP Fiori apps, the runtime environment (such as the browser) of the client must support HTML5.

SAP Web Dispatcher

The SAP Fiori apps send requests to several systems, depending on the application type and the connected system landscape.

SAP Fiori apps are processed as follows: First, the client loads the UIs for the SAP Fiori apps. Second, while running, the app consumes data from the SAP Business Suite back-end systems.

Standard browsers have a "same origin" policy, that is, HTTPS requests for the UI data and the back-end data must communicate with just one web address.

To meet this requirement, a reverse proxy server between the client and the SAP system must be installed. The reverse proxy server acts as the only point of entry for all HTTPS requests. Depending on the requests that the app sends, the reverse proxy server selects the appropriate application server, the ABAP front-end server, the HANA XS Engine, or SAP NetWeaver Gateway server.

Note Note

We recommend to use SAP Web Dispatcher as reverse proxy server.

End of the note.

ABAP Front-End Server

The ABAP front-end server contains all the infrastructure components to generate a SAP Fiori app-specific UI for the client and to communicate with the SAP Business Suite back-end systems. The UI components and the gateway are based on SAP NetWeaver. Typically, both are deployed on the same server.

The central UI component is a framework that provides the common infrastructure for all SAP Fiori apps: SAP Fiori launchpad is the basis of all SAP Fiori UIs, and provides fundamental functions for SAP Fiori apps such as logon, surface sizing, navigation between apps, and role- based app catalogs. End-users access the SAP Fiori apps from the SAP Fiori launchpad. The specific UIs for the apps are delivered as SAP Business Suite product-specific UI add-on products, which must be additionally installed on the front-end server.

SAP Smart Business apps: The KPI framework enhances the central UI component by parts that the SAP HANA XS engine requires for the SAP Smart Business apps. That is, the KPI framework provides the infrastructure to view and analyze KPIs: Using the KPI Modeler, you create and model key performance indicators (KPI) and make them available in the apps. The generic drill-down app provides a standard infrastructure to display the KPI data and to navigate to detail views.

SAP NetWeaver Gateway handles the communication between the client and the SAP Business Suite backend. SAP NetWeaver Gateway uses OData services to provide back-end data and functions, and processes HTTPS requests for OData services. The transactional apps, which are updating data in the SAP Business Suite systems, use this communication channel when called in an insight-to-action scenario.

ABAP Back-End Server

In the ABAP back-end server, the SAP Business Suite products are installed, which provide the business logic and the back-end data, including users, roles, and authorizations. The add-ons for the SAP Fiori apps are continuously released in Support Packages. The back-end server is based on SAP NetWeaver.

SAP HANA XS Engine

SAP HANA Extended Application Services (SAP HANA XS Engine) is a lightweight application server in SAP HANA that replicates the data from the back-end server and remodels them using Virtual Data Models (VDMs).

SAP Fiori app content provides filters and views, as well as additional data for the products running on the SAP HANA server.

The virtual data model (VDM) is a generic interface to the SAP HANA database and acts as a data provider. It is a structured representation of HANA database views used in the SAP HANA analytics framework for SAP Business Suite. VDM is deployed with SAP HANA Live for SAP Business Suite.

SAP HANA

SAP HANA is an in-memory database platform that you can use to analyze large volumes of data in real-time.