Working with Connections

In SAP Datasphere you can define connections to SAP as well as non-SAP sources or partner tools, residing in a cloud as well as on-premise environment.

Connections are individual objects in SAP Datasphere, which are defined in a separate view on the landing page. They are created and maintained per space which means only members of a specific space are able to make use of the related connections.

Please be aware that technical names of connections are case-sensitive, allow a maximum of 40 characters and cannot be changed later (valid characters are: A - Z, a - z, 0 - 9, and _ (underscore)).

An example of a connection is as follows:

• All SAP source system connections to start with "SAP_" .
• Specify the back end type or application type using abbreviations, for example, S4H for SAP S/4HANA systems or B4H for SAP BW/4HANA systems.
• Optional: use underscore and then free text in camel case to specify more details. For example, indicate the type of data that can be accessed or the business area. The free text may contain additional underscores.

Many connection types are offered to integrate data from SAP sources.

If you want to use Open Connectors, please contact SAP to get them unlocked.

There are also many connection types offered to integrate data from non-SAP sources.

To extend connectivity to cover additional data sources, you can use partner tools like Adverity and Precog.

Using connections to sources, there are several approaches of data provisioning in SAP Datasphere:

• Remote tables

  You can use remote tables to:

  • directly access data in the source (remote access).

  • copy the full set of data (snapshot or scheduled replication).

  • copy data changes in real-time (real-time replication).

• Flows

  Three types of flows are offered:

  • Replication flow: For ELT scenarios where data is replicated.

  • Transformation flow: For post-load transformations in ELT scenarios. A transformation flow does not use connections to the source systems.

  • Data flow: Traditional ETL approach: extract data, transform data first and then store it.

Each connection type supports a defined set of features: remote tables, replication flows, data flows, and model import. Depending on the connection type and the connection configuration, a connection can be used for one or more features.

SAP Datasphere uses the following technologies to connect to remote tables, depending on the connection type and data provisioning option selected:

• SAP Cloud Connector:

  • SAP Cloud Connector is an on-premise agent developed and supported by SAP.
  • SAP Cloud Connector handles the network traversal (secure tunnel from SAP Datasphere to the on-premise network).

• SAP HANA Smart Data Integration (SDI) via Data Provisioning Agent (DP Agent):

  • SAP HANA Smart Data Integration (SDI) is deployed on a separate Data Provisioning Server, and is driven by adapters managed by the Data Provisioning Agent (DP Agent)
  • The DP Agent is a lightweight component, which connects to SAP Datasphere using JDBC and must be installed outside SAP Datasphere on a local host in your network.
  • It hosts data provisioning adapters for connectivity to remote sources, enabling both data federation and replication scenarios.

• SAP HANA Smart Data Access (SDA) via Cloud Connector:

  • SAP HANA Smart Data Access (SDA) relies on built-in adapters running on the SAP HANA database (ODBC and REST API adapters).
  • In the connection properties, the Data Provisioning Option is set to SAP Cloud Connector .

• SAP HANA Smart Data Access (SDA) via Direct Connection:

  • Under the hood, SAP HANA Smart Data Access (SDA) technology is used.
  • Direct Connection is used for sources, which support direct connectivity without additional setup (no SAP Cloud Connector needed).
  • In the connection properties, the Data Provisioning Option is set to Direct.

SAP HANA Smart Data Access (SDA) offers replication options. However, for replication scenarios specifically, using replication flows is the preferred option. If remote table replication is required, SAP HANA Smart Data Integration (SDI) via the Data Provisioning Agent is the recommended adapter as it offers more options such as applying filter conditions and data partitioning, and supports pausing replication.

Replication flows and data flows are built entirely separate from the SAP HANA Smart Data Integration (SDI) and Data Provisioning Agent (DP Agent) architecture used by remote tables.

Replication flows are built on the Replication Management Service (RMS), a component embedded in SAP Datasphere, and has its own connectivity stack.

Data flows are powered by embedded SAP Data Intelligence (DI) using DI Connectors to reach sources.

For replication flows and data flows, SAP Cloud Connector is required when connecting to on-premise sources, as it acts as the secure link between SAP Datasphere and the on-premise system.