SAP TEST DATA MIGRATION SERVER Questions & Answers General/Pre-Sales... 4 What is SAP TDMS all about?... 4 What is the current release/version?... 4 Where can I find more information about SAP TDMS?... 4 How much does SAP TDMS cost?... 4 So the price for SAP TDMS does not depend on the number of users?... 4 What does the process for obtaining SAP TDMS look like?... 4 Typically, how long does an experienced SAP basis person need to get up to speed with SAP TDMS?... 4 What consulting services are available for SAP TDMS? Who should buy these services?... 5 Compatibility (Releases, applications )... 5 For which Releases is SAP TDMS available?... 5 Does SAP TDMS require a specific SP level?... 5 Is SAP TDMS available for SAP NetWeaver BW, SAP SCM, SAP SRM, SAP CRM and SAP GTS?... 5 Is SAP TDMS available for Industry Solutions?... 5 Can SAP TDMS be used for a Unicode conversion?... 6 Can the sender system and the receiver system be on different release levels?... 6 Would an ERP upgrade or support package installation require significant reconfiguration/ programming or even a reinstallation of SAP TDMS?... 6 We have been told that if we do a database copy of our production R/3 system, we should simultaneously do a database copy of our BW, SCM, SRM and CRM systems to ensure data consistency. What happens if you use SAP TDMS? Do you do a database copy of your BW, SCM, SRM and CRM systems at the same time you do a refresh?... 6 Will SAP TDMS work on a High Availability Server?... 6 If the central system is in clustered environment, will SAP TDMS work?... 6 Does SAP TDMS transfer Variant Configuration data?... 6 Functions & Features (General)... 6 Exactly what data does SAP TDMS transfer?... 6 How does SAP TDMS handle existing cross-client data (repository and cross-client customizing data) in the target system?... 7 How does TDMS handle BI-SEM?... 7 Can SAP TDMS be used for transferring data from one production system to another?... 7 Does SAP TDMS create an additional client in an existing system or even a completely new system?... 7 Can SAP TDMS be used only for data transfer into an empty client, or is it also possible to transfer selected objects into a client that already contains data?... 8 Do customers use SAP TDMS to create or refresh quality assurance (Q/A) systems?... 8 Are numbering and document relationships from the sender system maintained?... 8 How does SAP TDMS handle customer-specific tables?... 8 What happens to admin data in the receiver system, for example user data?... 8 Can I change the transfer status (complete transfer <-> transfer in reduced form <-> no transfer) for individual tables?... 8 Is it possible to make certain data (master and transactional data) anonymous in the receiver system?... 8 Can customer/add-on/industry Solution tables be reduced?... 8 When determining dependencies, does SAP TDMS take care of CO documents?... 8 How does SAP TDMS handle stocks?... 8 How does SAP TDMS handle document flows?... 9 Can user exits be transported?... 9 Is there an option to keep or delete existing data in the receiver system as part of the data refresh?... 9
Could SAP TDMS also be used to select and migrate problem data in the sender system for troubleshooting in the receiver system?... 9 Are complex data relationships and dependencies maintained in the receiver system?... 9 What can I understand under the new shell creation functionality?... 9 What are typical use cases for the shell creation feature?... 9 technical (General)... 9 What is the initial size of the TDMS Add-On?... 9 How do you extract the data for the copy and what is the method that is used (ALE, extract from DB, and so on)?... 9 Is it possible to perform the extract from a backup copy rather than from the live system?... 10 What method is used for the data transfer (flat file, IDoc, EDI )? What method is used to update the receiving database (direct table updates, BAPI, BDC)?... 10 What about the performance of SAP TDMS?... 10 How does the data volume impact the speed of transfer?... 10 Is there a limit to the data volumes or number of records that can be transferred by means of SAP TDMS?.. 10 How does SAP TDMS compare to the client copy option on speed?... 10 Is it true that the receiver system must be based on an exact copy of the sender system? Wouldn t this be an awful lot of work? And does this work for development systems?... 10 Do customers use existing Q/A systems in order to refresh other non-production systems by means of SAP TDMS?... 10 What method does SAP TDMS use for deleting obsolete data from the receiver system?... 10 To what extent is the sender system impacted by a TDMS project? How long is the downtime?... 11 Do customers always perform a database reorg after the data transfer, or are there situations where this doesn t make sense?... 11 System Landscape... 11 What does a typical system landscape for SAP TDMS look like?... 11 Could the sender system, the TDMS server, and the receiver system reside on different clients in a single system?... 11 What options are available for setting up the receiver system?... 11 Can we transfer from/to multiple instances of R/3 (as both as receiver and sender systems) and keep the data integrity between them?... 11 Is it possible to have one sender and multiple receivers?... 12 Installation & setup... 12 What hardware platforms and databases does SAP TDMS support?... 12 How is SAP TDMS installed?... 12 Do I need to install the TDMS server on its own server, or can it run alongside other SAP applications on the same server?... 12 operation... 12 How are errors handled?... 12 Can aborted transfers of single tables be resumed?... 12 Does the product generate performance statistics?... 12 Can data transfers be scheduled?... 12 Can transfers be run in foreground and background modes?... 12 Does the software provide an estimate of the amount of data in a specific transfer before the transfer is actually executed?... 12 How much time should I calculate for a data refresh using SAP TDMS?... 13 Security... 13 What authentication services does SAP TDMS have? Is it able to interface with third party authentication systems such as NT, Novell, Windows, UNIX, and so on.... 13 Can user-roles and access rights be configured?... 13 What controls are in place to prevent data loss or data corruption during the transfer process in both the sender and receiver clients? Is this a risk?... 13 Is there a risk of data being written back to the sender system during the transfer?... 13 Support... 13 2
How many hours/day and days/week is support available? Through what channels (phone, messages, e- mail )?... 13 What is your strategy for providing updates?... 13 SIZING... 13 The sizing guide recommends 4000 SAPS for the Central System. For customers using SAP Solution Manager as their control/central system, I m assuming the 4000 SAPS would be required over and above their current requirements to support the operations on Solution Manager. Please confirm.... 14 TDMS BPL... 14 TDMS BI... 15 TDMS SCM... 17 TDMS Data Scrambling... 18 TDMS MANAGER... 19 3
GENERAL/PRE-SALES What is SAP TDMS all about? SAP Test Data Migration Server (SAP TDMS) is used to create and refresh non-production systems, particularly test systems, with a reduced dataset. Once the initial setup of SAP TDMS is complete, SAP TDMS supplies the non-production system with current data from the production system using a simplified procedure (refresh). What is the current release/version? The latest release is SAP TDMS 4.0, which is scheduled to be available in the early part of the second quarter of 2012. The previous release, SAP TDMS 3.0, was the second release of SAP TDMS. The first release was SAP TDMS 2005. Where can I find more information about SAP TDMS? See the materials provided in SAP Service Marketplace under http://service.sap.com/tdms or www.sap.com/tdms. How much does SAP TDMS cost? The price depends on the database size of the production system and is charged per productive installation (regardless of the number of related non-production installations). In addition, the standard costs for database licenses and support apply. In the case of SAP TDMS, we have defined database size categories as well as a fixed standard price for each category. The following categories are available:. 0 to 299 GB 300 to 599 GB 600 to 899 GB 900 to 1199GB 1200 + n times 300 GB For more information, see the current SAP software price list at https://portal.wdf.sap.corp/go/globalpricing. Choose Master Price List 20xx <relevant year>- SAP Software and carry out a search using the keyword TDMS. So the price for SAP TDMS does not depend on the number of users? Yes, the price depends exclusively on the database size and not on the number of users. What does the process for obtaining SAP TDMS look like? If you would like to buy SAP TDMS, inform your local SAP contact who can tell you how to obtain SAP TDMS. After you buy the software, you can download it from the Software Distribution Center in SAP Service Marketplace. Typically, how long does an experienced SAP basis person need to get up to speed with SAP TDMS? Typically, we recommend setting up a small implementation project and allowing for some lead time before TDMS can be productively used. For the person experienced in SAP Basis, we recommend participating in the classroom training for SAP TDMS (three days) or in an implementation project run by SAP Consulting. 4
To define new reduction scenarios and similar tasks, you need development skills (ABAP) and an in-depth knowledge of SAP TDMS. We recommend involving SAP Consulting to help you with the implementation of customer-specific reduction routines or scrambling projects. What consulting services are available for SAP TDMS? Who should buy these services? To learn more about consulting services for SAP TDMS, see the information provided on SAP Service Marketplace under http://service.sap.com/slo. Choose SAP System Landscape Consolidation & Harmonization. COMPATIBILITY (RELEASES, APPLICATIONS ) For which Releases is SAP TDMS available? SAP TDMS Release 4.0 is available for SAP releases R/3 Enterprise 4.7 or above and SAP Basis releases 6.20, 6.40 or 7.00. The central/control system should be SAP Basis release 7.00 or above. SAP TDMS Release 3.0 is available for SAP releases R/3 4.6C, R/3 4.7 (110 and 200) and all subsequent releases including ERP 6.0. Exception: SAP TDMS for SAP HCM is available for R/3 4.7 up to ERP 6.0. Does SAP TDMS require a specific SP level? No. Is SAP TDMS available for SAP NetWeaver BW, SAP SCM, SAP SRM, SAP CRM and SAP GTS? SAP TDMS 4.0 provides solutions for SAP NetWeaver BW, SAP SCM, SAP SRM, SAP CRM and SAP GTS. SAP TDMS is available for the following releases for the different solutions: SAP TDMS 4.0 for SAP CRM supports SAP CRM Releases 7.0 or above. SAP TDMS 4.0 for SAP NetWeaver BW supports Releases 7.0 or above. SAP TDMS 4.0 for SAP SCM supports SAP SCM Releases 7.0 or above. SAP TDMS 4.0 for SAP SRM supports SAP SRM Releases 7.0 or above. SAP TDMS 4.0 for SAP GTS supports SAP GTS Releases 6.0 or above. Is SAP TDMS available for Industry Solutions? SAP TDMS is now available for several industry solutions. SAP TDMS offers object-based reduction approach and time-based reduction approach for different industries. Object-based reduction is available for following Industry Solutions: SAP Utilities( Release 4.72 or above) CRM for Utilities(Release 6.0 or above) SAP Retail(Release 6.0 or above) SAP Banking(Release 6.0 or above) Time-Based reduction is available for following Industry Solutions: SAP Oil & Gas-Downstream(Release 4.72 or above) SAP Apparel & Footwear SAP Healthcare 5
The tables from all other Industry Solutions are transferred completely. For more information about TDMS and Industry Solutions, contact your local SAP subsidiary. How about Unicode? SAP TDMS can handle Unicode, but not MDMP. see For more information, see SAP Note 1249737. It is best if the participating systems (the sender system, the receiver system, and the central system) are all non-unicode or all Unicode. You can also set a Unicode system as the central system and non-unicode systems as the sender system and the receiver system but not the other way around. Can SAP TDMS be used for a Unicode conversion? No, SAP TDMS is not available for the constellation sender system is non-unicode, receiver system is Unicode and, consequently, cannot be used for Unicode conversion. Can the sender system and the receiver system be on different release levels? No. Would an ERP upgrade or support package installation require significant reconfiguration/ programming or even a reinstallation of SAP TDMS? No, if SAP TDMS is available for the target release, neither reconfiguration/programming nor a new installation of SAP TDMS is necessary. We have been told that if we do a database copy of our production R/3 system, we should simultaneously do a database copy of our BW, SCM, SRM and CRM systems to ensure data consistency. What happens if you use SAP TDMS? Do you do a database copy of your BW, SCM, SRM and CRM systems at the same time you do a refresh? If you use SAP TDMS to refresh your R/3, currently the connected systems should still be refreshed at the same time to assure a cross-system consistency. The advantage of using SAP TDMS in such an environment is that SAP TDMS does not affect cross-client data on the R/, hence so all interface- and communication- related data remains unchanged. If client-specific configuration is also required, SAP TDMS can easily be configured to in the right way as well. Will SAP TDMS work on a High Availability Server? Yes. If the central system is in clustered environment, will SAP TDMS work? Yes. Does SAP TDMS transfer Variant Configuration data? All data regarding Variant Configuration is treated as master data. SAP TDMS for ERP transfers the Variant Configuration data in full. FUNCTIONS & FEATURES (GENERAL) Exactly what data does SAP TDMS transfer? 6
In general, one can say that the dataset for a typical SAP TDMS reduction scenario includes master data and customizing settings and possibly a certain portion of the transaction data, with the portion being defined by means of reduction criteria. TDMS currently includes the following default reduction scenarios: With Transfer of Master Data and Customizing, master data and customizing settings (according to SAP s definitions of these terms) is transferred. With Time-Based Reduction, master data and customizing settings plus transaction data from a defined date onwards is transferred. The Company Code and Time-Based Reduction is a combination of TDTIM and a reduction by company code, that is, you can transfer the data for one or more company codes from a given date onwards. Additional migration solutions may be developed on request by SAP or by authorized partners. More information about the migration solutions is provided in the Master Guide (to be found in SAP Service Marketplace under /instguides or /tdms). How does SAP TDMS handle existing cross-client data (repository and cross-client customizing data) in the target system? All cross-client data (repository, transport history, interfaces, printers and so on) in the target system () remains as it is. When performing a refresh for a development system, however, the target client must not be the development client, otherwise all open Customizing requests are lost. As far as user data is concerned, SAP TDMS saves client-specific user data and authorizations for the target client in preparation for the data transfer and restores this information after the transfer to ensure that the user data in the target system remains intact. How does TDMS handle BI-SEM? The TDMS solution for SAP NetWeaver BW handles SEM components as well and transfers the data for SEM in a reduced fashion. All InfoCubes and ODS elements in BI are reduced. TDMS for BI operates independently of the functional area and all BI objects are transferred with reduction in the standard scenario itself. The data on specific tables can also be transferred completely or not transferred at all (if necessary) by making simple Customizing changes. The customization and configuration data that are a part of FINBASIS (SEM including BPC) are excluded from deletion and transfer. Hence, SAP TDMS does not transfer nor delete the BPC objects for BI from the receiver system. Can SAP TDMS be used for transferring data from one production system to another? No, SAP TDMS is not a generic data transfer tool. It is designed exclusively for creating nonproduction systems (test systems, training systems and so on) and for refreshing the data in systems built up by means of SAP TDMS. It even includes a specific check to ensure that the target system is not flagged as a production system. Does SAP TDMS create an additional client in an existing system or even a completely new system? SAP TDMS is designed for copying data to an existing client. Since SAP TDMS Release 3.0, a new feature termed system shell creation is shipped. This feature is more or less a modified system copy, which supports the setup of a lean system shell that can then be filled using data belonging to one of the standard TDMS scenarios. However, you can also create the receiver client for SAP TDMS by means of a standard client copy or even by using an existing client that suits your needs. During a refresh run of SAP TDMS, the existing client-dependent data in the target client is deleted and replaced with the new dataset. 7
In summary, one can say that SAP TDMS is similar to an R/3 client copy, but its performance is much better, and it allows for reducing the volume of transaction data and for data scrambling. Can SAP TDMS be used only for data transfer into an empty client, or is it also possible to transfer selected objects into a client that already contains data? Yes, this is possible, but requires changes to the writing behavior and is not covered by the standard configuration of SAP TDMS. (The reason for this is that this setup requires additional measures with regard to data consistency.) Do customers use SAP TDMS to create or refresh quality assurance (Q/A) systems? Yes, many customers use SAP TDMS to set up and refresh Q/A systems. Are numbering and document relationships from the sender system maintained? Yes How does SAP TDMS handle customer-specific tables? SAP TDMS identifies these tables and includes them in the transfer. The default setting for these additional tables is Transfer Without Reduction, but it is possible to change the transfer status (Transfer, No Transfer, Reduction) if required. What happens to admin data in the receiver system, for example user data? This information is kept as it is in the receiver system. That is, it is not overwritten by the corresponding data from the sender system. Can I change the transfer status (complete transfer <-> transfer in reduced form <-> no transfer) for individual tables? Yes, this is possible, but you have to be careful if the table whose reduction behavior you want to change has a hierarchy relation with one or more other tables. Is it possible to make certain data (master and transactional data) anonymous in the receiver system? SAP TDMS is shipped with a Scrambling platform that can also be used for defining data scrambling rules. With SAP TDMS Release 4.0, ready-to-use scrambling rules are available for vendor number and address data, customer number and address data, and material number. Preconfigured scrambling rules and content to scramble HCM data are also available since release SAP TDMS 3.0. Any additional required rules may be developed by SLO Consulting in customer-specific consulting projects. Customers can also create content and scrambling rules for any solution(sap ERP, CRM, SCM, SRM, GTS, Industry Solutions) based on inputs from their functional teams. For more information about using the Scrambling workbench, see the How To Scramble Data guide on SAP Service Marketplace at http://service.sap.com/tdms. Can customer/add-on/industry Solution tables be reduced? The user can choose for each of these tables if it is included in the transfer or not. If included, a reduction might be possible as well if suitable fields exist (and the application users agree). When determining dependencies, does SAP TDMS take care of CO documents? Yes. How does SAP TDMS handle stocks? 8
In the migration solutions that include transaction data, stock-taking tables are covered in the same way as any other application data tables. For the transfer of master data and customizing (which normally does not include stocks), SAP TDMS provides a special option to configure the handling of stock tables. How does SAP TDMS handle document flows? In time-based scenarios, SAP TDMS considers the relationships among documents across several reference levels and, in some areas, even beyond the defined data slice date to include the related data in the transfer. Can user exits be transported? No, user exits are repository/coding and cannot be transferred in the same way as application data. Is there an option to keep or delete existing data in the receiver system as part of the data refresh? Yes, this can be done as a customer-specific consulting solution. Could SAP TDMS also be used to select and migrate problem data in the sender system for troubleshooting in the receiver system? SAP TDMS can select and migrate the problem data mainly for HCM and BPL. In case of SAP TDMS BPL the data pertaining to the standard BPL objects that are available can be used to migrate the problem data in the sender system, otherwise customers need to create new BPL objects as per their requirements. Are complex data relationships and dependencies maintained in the receiver system? SAP TDMS includes features for handling hierarchy relations between tables and other dependencies. What can I understand under the new shell creation functionality? The shell creation feature is similar to a modified system copy, which allows the creation of an empty system by only extracting repository and client-independent data. For more information, these the How-to Carry out Shell Creation guide on SAP Service Marketplace at http://service.sap.com/tdms. What are typical use cases for the shell creation feature? A typical use case for this feature is to build up an initial shell based on the source system. This shell is then placed in the transport chain so it can be copied when additional non-production systems are to be built up. TECHNICAL (GENERAL) What is the initial size of the TDMS Add-On? 15 MB while compressed and 60 MB when installed in an SAP system How do you extract the data for the copy and what is the method that is used (ALE, extract from DB, and so on)? The method applied by SAP TDMS is based on SAP s migration workbench technology, which works at database level. 9
Is it possible to perform the extract from a backup copy rather than from the live system? No, the extract must always be taken from the live system. There are other ways of minimizing the impact of the TDMS project on the production system. What method is used for the data transfer (flat file, IDoc, EDI )? What method is used to update the receiving database (direct table updates, BAPI, BDC)? The sender system and the receiver system are connected by a remote function call (RFC) for the purpose of data transfer. The transfer and update method is TABLE INSERT. With SAP TDMS Release 4.0, file based data transfer is available for ERP. IDocs are not used, because this would make the process too slow, and you would not have your production data in the system it would be different, new data. In addition, only a few straightforward processes, but by no means all required data can be simulated using IDocs. What about the performance of SAP TDMS? Performance is a very generic term. What is usually meant in the context of SAP TDMS is the amount of data to be transferred in a given interval of time. This value depends on a variety of factors, such as the size of the sender system, the amount of data to be transferred, the hardware used and the number of processes being assigned to SAP TDMS. Consequently it is not possible (and does not make sense) to make general statements about performance. How does the data volume impact the speed of transfer? The more data you transfer the more processing time you need; the speed of the transfer should not vary too much. Is there a limit to the data volumes or number of records that can be transferred by means of SAP TDMS? Not from a technical perspective. However, if a very large amount of data is going to be transferred, the time required for this may be unacceptably long (see also the previous question). How does SAP TDMS compare to the client copy option on speed? SAP TDMS is faster. We use parallel processing and no generic, but generated coding, and you do not transfer all data like in client copy, so there is less work to do. Is it true that the receiver system must be based on an exact copy of the sender system? Wouldn t this be an awful lot of work? And does this work for development systems? No, this is not true: In order to set up new receiver systems, TDMS has a migration solution called system shell creation, which allows the setup of a system shell by extracting repository and crossclient data. This shell has a size of approximately 100 to 200 GB and can then be populated by means of SAP TDMS. In regards to the use of SAP TDMS in a development environment, we recommend and many customers are doing this already to set up an additional TDMS client in development. This way, the refresh doesn t affect the development client. Do customers use existing Q/A systems in order to refresh other non-production systems by means of SAP TDMS? Yes, some customers are using a full copy of their Q/A system as a source system for creating additional non-production systems. What method does SAP TDMS use for deleting obsolete data from the receiver system? 10
SAP TDMS is available with its own deletion tools whose performance is much better than the performance of standard deletion tools. To what extent is the sender system impacted by a TDMS project? How long is the downtime? Generally speaking, a downtime of the sender system is not mandatory. (The sole exception being that you do need a downtime if you want to include Material Ledger data in the transfer.) However we recommend that no changes should be made in the system while the data for transfer is read and stored in a temporary table (cluster). This cluster technique makes it possible to separate the reading process from the actual data transfer, which means that the data transfer itself does not have an impact on the sender system. The reading procedure typically takes about 50% of the time required for the actual transfer. If, for example, the transfer takes ten hours, you should allow another 5 hours for reading the relevant data and storing it in the cluster. With regard to the fact that the data extraction creates substantial load on the system, it should take place during a relatively quiet time to ensure that the available hardware resources are sufficient. Some companies use snapshot or clone technologies for their storage systems or temporary system copies to minimize the impact on the production system. Do customers always perform a database reorg after the data transfer, or are there situations where this doesn t make sense? As a rule, customers do perform a database reorg after the transfer. However, a few customers choose not to do so either because they do not have the time required for the reorg or because they want to set up another client and would need the space anyway. SYSTEM LANDSCAPE What does a typical system landscape for SAP TDMS look like? The system landscape for SAP TDMS consists of the sender system (the system whose data you want to transfer), the TDMS server and the receiver system (non-production system to be built up). For more information about the system landscape, see the Master Guide for SAP TDMS on SAP Service Marketplace at http://service.sap.com/tdms or /instguides. Could the sender system, the TDMS server, and the receiver system reside on different clients in a single system? Technically speaking, any constellation is feasible as long as sufficient work processes are available and the performance is acceptable. However, we recommend that the TDMS server and the receiver be on different systems. What options are available for setting up the receiver system? Shell creation Client copy with subsequent deletion of client-specific data (using high-performance deletion tools provided by SAP TDMS) Snapshot For more information, see the Master Guide for SAP TDMS on SAP Service Marketplace at http://service.sap.com/tdms or /instguides. Can we transfer from/to multiple instances of R/3 (as both as receiver and sender systems) and keep the data integrity between them? 11
You can handle a multitude of sender system-receiver system relationships (and different releases) with one TDMS installation. However you always have a 1:1 relationship between sender and receiver, and the sender and receiver release for a given pair need to be the same. Is it possible to have one sender and multiple receivers? Yes. This can be achieved using the file-based transfer. INSTALLATION & SETUP What hardware platforms and databases does SAP TDMS support? SAP TDMS runs on all platforms and databases that are supported by SAP. How is SAP TDMS installed? SAP TDMS comes in several add-ons (DMIS, DMIS_CNT and others for the TDMS extensions) and is installed directly in the main database of all participating systems. For more information about the installation or upgrade notes, see the Master Guide on SAP Service Marketplace athttp://service.sap.com/tdms. Do I need to install the TDMS server on its own server, or can it run alongside other SAP applications on the same server? SAP TDMS can run on any server on which NW 7.0 or higher is installed. We strongly recommend to install SAP TDMS on the Solution Manager system and create the TDMS server as a separate entity on its own server. OPERATION How are errors handled? SAP TDMS provides monitoring and logging functions for all activities. For activities that may terminate under certain circumstances, SAP TDMS provides specific troubleshooting features. Can aborted transfers of single tables be resumed? Yes. That's possible for all tables except very few tables that need a special handling during transfer (CLUSTER tables). Does the product generate performance statistics? Yes. Can data transfers be scheduled? Yes. Can transfers be run in foreground and background modes? Yes. Does the software provide an estimate of the amount of data in a specific transfer before the transfer is actually executed? Yes, it does provide an estimate. However, the current function does not consider indexes and similar data, so that the calculated value is usually too low (typically by about 30 per cent). 12
How much time should I calculate for a data refresh using SAP TDMS? The effort required for a data refresh is lower than for the initial setup. If, for example, the source system is about 1 TB in size and the transfer involves about 30 per cent of this data, the overall runtime of a refresh should be somewhere between one and three days, which is considerably less than the time required for creating system copies of the same quality. The reason is that the configuration settings from the initial setup are re-used for the refresh so that you save some time here. However, with regard to the fact that all relevant data is transferred completely every time you do a refresh, the runtime for the actual data transfer is the same for the initial setup and for each refresh. SECURITY What authentication services does SAP TDMS have? Is it able to interface with third party authentication systems such as NT, Novell, Windows, UNIX, and so on. SAP TDMS uses the standard SAP authentication mechanisms. More details about this are provided in the Security Guide. Can user-roles and access rights be configured? User roles are delivered with their own authorization profiles and objects as a part of the setup for SAP TDMS. What controls are in place to prevent data loss or data corruption during the transfer process in both the sender and receiver clients? Is this a risk? SAP TDMS is available with a status management and control process. Logs are written for every function and error messages are the output if a function terminates. Hence, data loss or corruption is very unlikely. Is there a risk of data being written back to the sender system during the transfer? No, the way SAP TDMS is set up ensures that this cannot happen. SUPPORT How many hours/day and days/week is support available? Through what channels (phone, messages, e-mail )? SAP standard maintenance applies. What is your strategy for providing updates? Quarterly Support Packages. New releases for major functional enhancements. For how long do you support a SAP TDMS release? Standard support for a given release of SAP TDMS is available for two years starting with the general availability date. After that, customer-specific maintenance agreements are possible in accordance with SAP s general maintenance policy. SIZING 13
The sizing guide recommends 4000 SAPS for the Central System. For customers using SAP Solution Manager as their control/central system, I m assuming the 4000 SAPS would be required over and above their current requirements to support the operations on Solution Manager. Please confirm. Yes, 4000SAPS are exclusively required for SAP TDMS. In the case where SAP Solution Manager is used as the central system and a separate instance is used as the TDMS control system, is there another sizing recommendation? Will the control system require additional SAPS for large data transfers or increased performance? Please advise. In the case of separate central and control systems, additional SAPS are not required for large data transfers. Does the sizing recommendation take into account transfers over WAN (wide area network)? No, the sizing recommendation is only for transfers over the LAN (local area network). TDMS BPL TDMS 4.0 BPL caters to BPL objects of which application areas of SAP? Mainly SAP ERP and some Industry Solution areas. Are all business objects of TDMS 3.0 BPL covered in TDMS 4.0 BPL? Yes, and some additional business objects are also available. What software components need to be installed to use TDMS 4.0 BPL? DMIS and DMIS_CNT. DMIS_EXT is not needed for SAP TDMS 4.0. Can TDMS 4.0 BPL transfer a table completely without reduction, if needed? Yes. For more information about using TDMS BPL, see the How-To Transfer BPL guide on SAP Service Marketplace at http://service.sap.com/tdms. Is scrambling supported in BPL? Yes, the standard scrambling feature is available for TDMS BPL as well. How to transfer custom tables along with the standard BPL object scenarios? You need to copy the SAP delivered BPL object to a custom object using the COPY option in the BPL Modeler. The custom object can be enhanced by adding the custom table and maintaining suitable foreign key relationships. For more information about using TDMS BPL, see the How To Transfer Business Process Library (BPL) Data guide on SAP Service Marketplace at(http://service.sap.com/tdms. Can the customer/add-on/industry Solution tables be reduced? The user can check such tables (Add-on/Industry Solution) if it is already included in the BPL object delivered by SAP. If included, a reduction might be possible as well if suitable field relationship exists (and the application users agree). Otherwise, the user can add such tables and maintain suitable foreign key mapping using BPL modeler. Customer tables should be added and suitable foreign key mapping should be created by the user using BPL modeler. 14
How is the data deletion handled in BPL? Does it delete the complete data of the tables being transferred in the receiver system? No, the complete data of tables being transferred is not deleted. Data deletion is selective and is based on the same result set as data selection. SAP TDMS only deletes the data that must be transferred. What user roles are needed to execute TDMS BPL? Composite role SAP_TDMS_MASTER_CR is needed for TDMS BPL. How to specify the reduction criteria for a business object. For each SAP delivered business object, a root table is defined, which is the starting point for data selection. By default the primary key fields of root tables are set as active, which specifies the reduction criteria. When you create a variant in TDMS project work center, these active fields of root tables are automatically displayed and you need to specify the values for these fields. For custom business objects, it is mandatory to specify a table as root table and mark the desired fields as root tables. For more information about using TDMS BPL, see the How To Transfer Business Process Library (BPL) Data guide on SAP Service Marketplace at (http://service.sap.com/tdms..) Is it possible to change the reduction criteria for SAP delivered business objects? No, you cannot change the SAP-delivered business objects. To change the reduction criteria, copy the SAP-delivered object to a custom object and then make the required changes. Is it needed to execute TDMS ERP before executing BPL? No, TDMS BPL can be executed independently from other TDMS ERP migration solutions such as Time-Based Reduction for SAP ERP. However, be aware that the environment data of business objects transferred with BPL might be missing in your target system and some tests might fail because of this. How can I model a business process using TDMS BPL? What is the difference to a pure business object (BPL object)? A business object (BPL Object) in BPL is collection of entries in different tables that logically belong together. Entries of different tables are connected using foreign key relationships. A business process in BPL is a logical collection of various business objects (BPL Objects) that logically belong together. Entries of different objects are connected using links, which can be defined similar to foreign key relationships. TDMS BI Which actions within the BW system should not be executed during a TDMS run? Sender System Stop all data loads and all RDA daemons in the sender system when you are running data selection in TDMS BW. However, this is to be followed only when the data selection is running. 15
You can carry out data loads before and after data selection. This is essential to avoid inconsistencies in the BW request data after transfer. Refer to the SAP note 886102.You can carry out reporting at all times in the sender system even when TDMS is running. Receiver System Data loads should not happen into the TDMS receiver system when TDMS is running. Process chains should not run. Any activity that would modify the BI objects should not run in the receiver system. Delta queues should be empty in all the source systems connected to the receiver system. SEM or any other applications that would fill data into the infocubes/dsos should not be run. Is it better/necessary to refresh database statistics before starting with the data collection within the sender system? In SAP TDMS, it is not mandatory to refresh DB statistics in the sender system. However, if you have not refreshed the DB statistics since a long time (say 1 year), it is recommended to perform that before running SAP TDMS. This helps in a better performance. Are DB statistics/indexes adjusted automatically within the receiver system after a data transfer? No. Cubes and DSOs are they transferred completely? Are request information transferred as well? Cubes and DSOs are reduced by default. Both SAP delivered content as well as customer created cubes and DSOs are reduced based on time characteristics. However, TDMS also has an option to exclude a cube or DSO from transfer or transfer them fully. The request information is also transferred to maintain data consistency. What happens if the systems (receiver and sender) have different development levels regarding the application? It is a prerequisite for TDMS that the sender and receiver systems be on the same SP level for all applications. If they are on different levels, some tables cannot be transferred. Hence inconsistencies in the receiver system could occur. What happens if a cube is partitioned chronologically within the receiver system but not within the sender system? In case the partition count is different in sender and receiver systems, TDMS analyses the partitions in the sender and receiver systems and automatically creates the missing partitions in the receiver system. Are only the Info Cubes/DSO and Master data deleted? Are Delta Queues and PSAs within the receiver system deleted as well? What happens with Process chains and Info Packages? The data present in all info objects, infocubes and DSOs are deleted. The PSA data is also deleted. TDMS does not disturb any meta data i.e. it will not delete any process chains or info packages. The delta queues are not automatically deleted. We recommend clearing the delta queues in the receiver system before starting TDMS. What happens if master data gets changed during a TDMS run or DSO requests get activated? In the receiver system, no data loads should be performed at all during TDMS. In the sender system, ensure not to run any data loads when data selection is in progress. How does TDMS fill data into aggregate cubes? The approach TDMS uses is to transfer the infocubes by reducing them. After they are transferred, the aggregates in the receiver system will be rolled up. This will ensure that the aggregates are in sync with the data in the infocubes. 16
Is it possible to refresh single Applications / Info Areas or only the complete system? Is there a collection mode which checks the usage of objects within Info Cubes / DSOs? Yes. We do provide a info area based UI where you can choose only those Info areas/ infocubes/ DSOs that you want to transfer. How is Master Data SID translation handled? Are the SID-Value Ranges adjusted after a copy? Yes. TDMS adjusts the number ranges of the SIDs after the copy. How is it possible to refresh a receiver system in different moments for different projects with actual data from the sender system? For example: Master Data: For all projects each quarter or Transactional Data: Only Cubes belonging to the different projects. Master data is transferred in full always. As stated above, we provide a UI where in you can choose the infocubes that need to be transferred. So, you can select only those infocubes belonging to the project and select them for transfer. Does TDMS transfer data of SEM BCS? SEM-BCS consists of some generated tables. Transferring data into these tables is quite complex as it involves data needs to be converted based on certain rules before the transfer. In TDMS BW, we ensure to exclude the tables related to SEM-BCS. So, if there is a configuration already available in the receiver system, TDMS does not disturb the configuration. However, it also does not create a new configuration. You can use manual transports to transfer BCS data. All the transactional data stored in BW infocubes are transferred by TDMS. If you have a need to transfer SEM-BCS data using TDMS, contact SAP. TDMS SCM What are the preparation steps for TDMS SCM? Ensure that the sender and receiver systems are on the same SCM release level. Ensure that a livecache is connected and configured in both sender system and receiver system SCM systems. The livecache should be up and running in the sender system and the receiver system. The necessary configuration by which data exchange happens between the SCM DB and livecache should be available in the sender system and the receiver system. In the receiver system, ensure that the overwrite mode is active for the livecache logs. Ensure to stop BW data loads into the sender system when TDMS data selection is in progress. We recommend carrying out the data selection during a quiet period when there is minimum transactional load on the SCM sender system. How does TDMS SCM reduce data? TDMS SCM transfers the SCM objects in the following way: Reduces order data stored in livecache data based on time slice and planning versions. Time series data is transferred in full to avoid inconsistencies. EWM data is reduced based on time slice. TDMS also ensures to select the documents to maintain a consistent document flow. Consistent transfer of tables belonging to the ODM and TSDM framework. BW data is transferred completely. Is it mandatory that the clients should be the same in the sender and receiver system? For example: Is it possible to transfer data of client 100 of sender system into client 200 of receiver system? Yes, it is possible to transfer data even if the source and target clients are different. TDMS has client conversion rules to transfer data and hence ensure consistency. 17
TDMS DATA SCRAMBLING Why do we use a standard routine such as SCRAMBLE_DATA even in the case of fixed value scrambling? Even though the mapping type is defined as a fixed value, a subroutine is required to retrieve the fixed value defined in the rule. Why is a primary table and a primary field required? A primary table -field is the combination from which data is selected to be scrambled. If the scenario is business partner data scrambling, for example, BUT000 is the master table containing the business partner information. In this case, BUT000 is the primary table and PARTNER is the field. Is an identifier required for the scrambling rule? How can it be accessed? The identifier/id is an optional field and is not required to be maintained in custom rules. We have used HCM rules in Customer/Vendor, to identify if the rule is a customer rule (or) a vendor rule. For customer objects, the identifier is CUSTNO and in the case of the vendor, the identifier is VENDNO. The backend code is only delivered for the two identifiers and can be used just for them. What is the use of the function module CNV_TDMS_SCR_PRESEL_ADDRESS here? Why is it required and when is it optional? It is required when you want to scramble address data based on objects and not the entire address data. The function module has identifier- specific coding, which identifies every address number as a vendor or a customer. Why is a MAPPING_ADDRESS_RESET value defined? All logic seems to be defined in the sections above, so why do we need another global mapping entry? This global mapping type points to the delete mapping type and can be reused. Are the mapping values for scrambling assigned by SAP TDMS accessible to users? If you entered mapping values for scrambling (that is, a list of target values from which SAP TDMS can randomly pick up a value), SAP TDMS assigns target values to each of the source values. The mapping is saved in the sender system (for a transfer scenario) in a cluster format. Users of the central system or receiver system do not have the authorization to read this data in the cluster format since SAP TDMS does not store the mapping values outside the sender system. However, in the case of Stand-Alone Scrambling, the mapping is stored in a cluster format within the execution system and is not directly accessible to a user. TDMS jobs use the mapping values only to ensure consistent scrambling across tables. How can you prevent a hacker from reengineering the scrambling logic and arriving at the target values? The scrambling logic is the responsibility of the user who should ensure that the target values are not simple enough to enable a reengineering. Example: If the scrambling logic seeks to concatenate a dummy text in front of the actual text or divide a numeric value by a constant, a hacker can easily reengineer the logic and deduce the original values. 18
TDMS MANAGER What is SAP TDMS Manager all about? The iphone application for TDMS has features to monitor the TDMS process for a package, to trigger execution of certain TDMS activities (such as start/stop data selection and transfer) and trouble shooters, to perform or change TDMS settings and provide an analytical perspective of the TDMS execution process in terms of views like Work Process Distribution chart, Data Transfer Progress chart, Statistics of Tables Relevant for Transfer and Throughput and Data Volume for Active Objects. For more information about the TDMS Manager, see the FAQ section of TDMS Manager 1.0.0 19