Architecture of SAP Process Integration AEX
AEX provides the connectivity capabilities of the Advanced Adapter Engine (AAE) as well as design and configuration tools (Enterprise Service Repository and the Integration Directory) to set up integration scenarios.
The figure, Architecture of SAP Process Integration AEX, shows the architecture of the AEX.
The main components for design and configuration time are the Enterprise Services Repository (ESR) and the Integration Directory (ID).
Using these tools, an integration expert can design integration content (for example, interfaces and process integration scenarios) and specify the configuration settings for message exchange for a specific system landscape. The design and configuration tools are connected to the System Landscape Directory (SLD), which contains, for example, the description of software components and systems.
Based on the configuration settings from the ID, messages are exchanged between the connected business systems at runtime. AEX uses the Advanced Adapter Engine (AAE) as runtime engine.
To process messages, the AAE uses information from the ID. This information is made available to the AAE using a runtime cache.
SAP Process Integration consists of the following components:
System Landscape Directory (SLD)
This component contains information about the landscape (technical systems and business systems) and the software catalog (product and software component versions). You can configure an SAP system to register itself in the SLD.
Enterprise Services Repository (ESR)
This component contains design objects such as interfaces, mappings, and process definitions.
Integration Directory (ID)
This component enables you to configure scenarios for the message exchange.
Advanced Adapter Engine (AAE)
This component provides the basis for many adapters used to connect systems to the Integration Server. The AAE can also be used as the runtime environment for message processing.
Adapter Technology
SAP PI provides a variety of adapters to connect applications that are based on various technical or application-specific protocols. In the case of the sender, the adapter converts the inbound message encrypted in the sender protocol into a Process Integration Simple Object Access Protocol (PI SOAP) message. In the case of the receiver, the PI SOAP message is then converted into the receiver’s protocol.
The central component of the adapter runtime is the Adapter Framework, which has services for messaging, queuing, and security handling. The Adapter Framework supports the J2EE Connector Architecture (JCA) standard and addresses resource adapters that are either part of SAP PI or provided by SAP partners.
Architecture of SAP Process Orchestration
BPM and Business Rules Management allows you to design, execute and monitor business processes and business rules. Both tools are part of the SAP Composition Environment.
The figure illustrates the architecture of SAP Process Orchestration.
Tools for Modeling are:
- SAP Netweaver Developer Studio (NWDS)
SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio is an Eclipse-Based Tool, for modeling Business Process, Business Rules, as well as Integration Flows on the AEX. For this purposes, NWDS offers a couple of perspectives, for example, the Process Development perspective, the Rules Composer, the Process Integration Designer perspective, or Enterprise Service Repository perspective.
- Business Process Management
SAP Business Process Management (BPM) lets your business and IT professionals jointly compose executable processes using standardized notation.
- Business Rules Management
SAP Business Rules Management (SAP BRM) enables organizations to automate decisions by using business rules. Business users participate in and control rule definition, while business process experts model, validate, deploy, update, and archive business rules through their lifecycle. As such, IT organizations can work with business users to manage business rules that drive process flow and execution.
- Advanced Adapter Engine (AAE)
AEX provides the connectivity capabilities of the Advanced Adapter Engine (AAE) as well as design and configuration tools (ES Repository and the Integration Directory) to set up integration scenarios.
SAP Process Orchestration - Deployment Options
You can obtain Process Orchestration by installation or by adding the corresponding usage types to an existing SAP NetWeaver system. For latter, both are supported, deployment of BPM on an existing AEX system and deployment of an AEX on an existing BPM system.
Process Orchestration runs on one system. Deployment on more than one system is not supported.
The figure shows 2 different deployment options for SAP Process Orchestration.
NoteSAP NetWeaver has discontinued dual stack deployments. The dual stack option for SAP Process Integration has been replaced by a dual usage type that behaves like a Process Integration dual stack but stacks the AS ABAP and the AS Java run on separate system IDs.