Usage Scenario
You want to use data from your SAP back end in SAP BTP. You want to use a secure and robust connection.
SAP BTP Connectivity Services
SAP BTP Connectivity provides two services for the Cloud Foundry environment:
- The SAP Connectivity service.
- The SAP Destination service.
The Connectivity service provides a connectivity proxy that can be used to access on-premise resources. Using the Destination service, you can retrieve and store the technical information about the target resource (destination) that you need to connect your application to a remote service or system.
In the following, we will only cover the Cloud Foundry Runtime. In principle, there are two types of connections to and from the SAP BTP:
- Internet Connectivity uses Destination service.
- Cloud to On-Premise Connectivity uses Destination service and Connectivity service.
Connectivity to and from the SAP BTP
The upper part depicts the SAP BTP, the lower part the remote systems and services to be connected. The Internet Connectivity can be reached via HTTPs, while the connection to an on-premise system requires the Cloud Connector. The communication is bi-directional.
Connectivity Service Types and Communication Types
| Connectivity Service Type | Communication Type |
|---|---|
| Connectivity Service | on-premise communication |
| Destination Service | on-premise communication |
| Destination Service | Internet Connectivity |
The Connectivity Service is only used in conjunction with the Cloud Connector.
We limit ourselves to the two most used scenarios:
- SAP S/4HANA On-Premise - Cloud Connector - Connectivity Service - Destination Service.
- SAP S/4HANA Cloud - Destination Service.
Scenario 1: SAP S/4HANA On-Premise - Cloud Connector - Connectivity Service - Destination Service
This scenario is used to connect any back ends to SAP BTP. The optional connection parameters are located between the connections. The parameters used in the example are colored bold and purple.
The following four steps describe the structure of the scenario:
- Start
The SAP back end system provides an OData interface via the SAP Gateway.
- Step 1:
In the Cloud Connector, implemented in the back end, a secure connection to an SAP BTP subaccount is configured.
- Step 2:
The Cloud Connector is configured against the back end system via HTTP and all services can be found under the HTTP service tree /sap (see transaction /nSICF in the back end system).
On the back end side, all connections are now created to consume the data from the OData interface.
- Step 3:
A new destination is created and configured against the Cloud Connector via the Connectivity Service. The Proxy type is OnPremise.
- Step 4:
The destination can now be reached and used from within the app via:
- API
- Programmatically via ABAP, Java, Node.js
Scenario 2: SAP S/4HANA Cloud - Destination Service
In this scenario, only the Destination Service is used. This is configured with a remote service.
Again, you find the optional connection parameters within the connections.
Summary
SAP BTP Connectivity consists of two services, the SAP Connectivity service and the SAP Destination service. The Destination service encapsulates the concrete connections. If a back end is accessed, the Cloud Connector is used in combination with the SAP Connectivity service.
Further Reading
See: SAP BTP Connectivity Help Page For SAP Connectivity tutorials, see the Cloud Connector section.
