Concept of the Monitoring Architecture

Purpose

The alerts are displayed in a tree structure in the alert monitor, and assigned a severity and a color (yellow for a warning, red for a problem). You can see the current status of your system and process alerts here. The alert monitor is based on the monitoring architecture, which was introduced in SAP R/3 4.0:

The CCMS monitoring architecture is not a monolithic monitoring and administration program. Rather, it offers a flexible framework into which extensive monitoring and administration functions can easily be added.

The elements of the monitoring architecture function largely independently of each other and can, particularly, be further developed and adjusted independently of each other.

· Data Supplier

A data supplier is a program that delivers data to the monitoring architecture. It belongs to one of the individual system components and creates monitoring objects that report values to the monitoring architecture. The monitoring architecture is delivered with the data suppliers for the most important components of your SAP system and its environment and can therefore be immediately used.

Data suppliers pass their information to the monitoring architecture. The monitoring architecture provides an infrastructure for gathering and managing system information. The monitoring architecture therefore constantly compares the values reported by the data suppliers for the monitored objects with threshold values and displays an alert if a value exceeds or falls below a threshold value.

· Data Consumers

A data consumer is a program that reads data from the monitoring architecture; it displays the information transferred to the monitoring architecture by the data suppliers. SAP delivers both the standard data consumer and other special monitors that all use the data delivered by the monitoring architecture.

· Monitoring Objects and Attributes

A monitoring object describes an object that is to be monitored. A monitoring attribute represents a type of information that is to be reported for a monitoring object. Monitoring objects include, for example, the CPU in your host system, the database, and SAP services, such as background processing. Monitoring attributes for a CPU object could be CPU utilization and the average CPU workload for the last five minutes.

The alert monitor also provides the administration methods that you need to monitor the system. In this way, you can set threshold values for alerts and add or adjust auto-reaction and analysis methods: if an alert is triggered, auto-reaction methods react automatically, and you can use an analysis method to investigate the cause of an alert without leaving the alert monitor. The monitoring architecture also contains tools for administering and archiving the alerts.

Data Transfer Using SAP XI

Purpose

You can realize cross-system business processes using the SAP Exchange Infrastructure (SAP XI). Within the overall architecture of SAP NetWeaver, SAP XI performs the tasks of process integration.

The integration of SAP XI and SAP BW allows you to use SAP XI to send data from various sources to the delta queue of SAP BW.

The integration of SAP XI and SAP BW offers the following advantages:

· Central maintenance of message flow between logical systems of your system landscape.

· Options for transformation of message content between sender and recipient

Mappings help you to adapt values and structures of your message to the recipient. In this way, you can transfer different types of files to a SAP BW system using interface mapping. However, in any case, it is necessary to transform the data into a format that corresponds to the interface of the function module that is generated in SAP BW and used for data transfer. The function module contains a table parameter with a flat structure. This means that the data have to be transformed so that they fit to a flat structure in SAP BW.

· Using proxy communication with SAP BW

Proxies are executable interfaces generated in the application systems for communication with the SAP XI Integration Server. We recommend the use of proxies for communication with SAP BW because they guarantee Full Quality of Service (Exactly Once in Order). They also guarantee that the data is delivered only once and in the correct sequence. The SAP XI Integration Server keeps the serialization as it was established by the sender.

Prerequisites

You are familiar with the concept, architecture and functions of SAP XI. You can find more information under SAP Exchange Infrastructure in the NetWeaver documentation.

You have integrated SAP BW and SAP XI. You can find more information on this in the configuration guide of SAP XI on the SAP Service Marketplace at the Internet address service.sap.com/instguides.

Process

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1. Create a XML DataSource in SAP BW based on a file-data source. When you generate the DataSource, an RFC-capable function module is generated for data transfer. You can find more information under XML DataSource and Creating XML DataSources.

2. Activate the data transfer to the delta queue of SAP BW by initializing the delta process. You can find more information under Activating Data Transfer to the Delta Queue.

3. You create an inbound and an outbound message interface in the Integration Repository of SAP XI.

You can find more information under Design of Interfaces and Proxy Generation in the documentation for SAP XI.

If there is already an interface for data exchange in a system, you can import the interface description into the Integration Repository. You can find more information under Connection with Adapters and Imported Interfaces in the documentation for SAP XI.

The interface description in SAP BW is available in the form of the RFC-capable function module for the inbound message interface that was generated for your DataSource. To create the inbound message interface, you can import the function module into the SAP XI Integration Repository. You can find additional information under Import of Idocs and RFCs.

¡ If you are using an existing SAP XI scenario, the outbound message interface is already in the Integration Repository. Then you only need to create the inbound message interface.

¡ If you want to implement a new scenario, create an outbound message interface in addition to the inbound message interface.

4. You implement proxy generation for your inbound message interface in SAP BW.

An ABAP object interface (inbound or server proxy) is generated in SAP BW for the inbound message interface.

You can find more information under ABAP Proxy Generation in the documentation for SAP XI.

We recommend proxy communication with SAP BW because it guarantees Full Quality of Service (Exactly Once in Order).

5. You implement the generated ABAP object interface using an ABAP object class in SAP BW for recipient processing.

You can find more information under ABAP Proxy Objects in the documentation for SAP XI.

The proxy runtime calls this processing automatically after receiving the appropriate message.

The document How to…Integrate BW to XI describes such an implementation. You can find the document on the SAP Service Marketplace at the Internet address service.sap.com/bw ® Services & Implementation ® HOW TO... Guides ® Guide List SAP BW 3.x.

6. If you have newly created the outbound message interface, you implement the data transfer according to your application case.

7. You implement the configurations in the Integration Directory of SAP XI that are relevant for message exchange. At the time of configuration, you set up the cross-system process for a concrete system landscape. The relevant objects are structure, organized and stored in the Integration Directory in the form of configuration objects.

You can find more information about the steps that you perform in SAP XI under Configuration and Design in the SAP XI documentation.

Result

You can now send data to the Integration Server of SAP XI, which transfers this data to SAP BW at runtime using proxy communication . In SAP BW, the data is written to the delta queue. From there, you can collect the data using the usual staging methods for deltas in SAP BW and then post it to the data targets.

The following graphic illustrates how the interface-based processing of messages works:

Using SAP EarlyWatch Alert

This process identifies potential problems early, avoids bottlenecks and monitors the performance of your systems. SAP EarlyWatch Alert monitors your most important business processes and systems.

The SAP EarlyWatch Alert in the SAP Solution Manager is a service provided by SAP.

Prerequisites

You have:

● set up RFC connections between your satellite systems and the SAP Solution Manager system, and an RFC connection between the SAP Solution Manager and the SAP Service Marketplace.

● checked the availability of the required tools for the SAP service session (ST-A/PI add-on), with the report RTCCTOOL.

● activated Alert Monitoring for all SAP satellite systems, and the central SAP Solution Manager of your solution, and set up the Automatic Session Manager (ASM) in the Service Data Control Center (SDCC) of your satellite systems (SAP note 91488).

● set up your systems in a solution landscape in the SAP Solution Manager.

Process Flow

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1. You configure the SAP EarlyWatch Alert scheduling in the SAP Solution Manager.

You have:

○ scheduled the service sessions for your solution, in the SAP Solution Manager Solution Directory

The default value is Mondays. You should retain this value.

○ activated or deactivated the download of SAP EarlyWatch Alert data from the SAP Solution Data Manager for your solution systems.

2. You have activated the SAP EarlyWatch Alert monitoring for your solution systems.

3. Data collectors in the satellite systems aggregate analysis-relevant system and performance data weekly.

4. The system downloads this data to the SAP Solution Manager with the SAP Solution Data Manager (SDCCN).

5. The job SM:EXEC SERVICES triggers the processing of the data in a system session.

6. Further processing is in accordance with the following rules, which SAP has specified in the system:

○ Red status: Critical/Error

i. Analyze the report. The SAP Solution Manager system sends the data to SAP.

ii. SAP Support analyzes the problems and contacts you if necessary, to discuss further action.

iii. If you consider the alert to be critical, discuss further action with SAP.

iv. Take the agreed action.

○ Yellow status: Critical/Warning

...

i. Analyze the report.

○ Gray status: Status unknown

...

i. Check why the system status could not be determined.

○ Green status: No error

The system sends initial and monthly sessions to SAP via the SAP Service Marketplace, regardless of the analysis of the weekly SAP EarlyWatch Alert reports.