Enterprises often operate more than one SAP system in a heterogeneous environment. For example, they may want to separate an engineering system from a production system. In such cases, they can use the Application Link Enabling (ALE) scenario to distribute data from one system to the other.
The following video introduces the basic features of ALE.
Cross-System Access I
When distributing document info records, it's important to include the original storage location. An identical storage location must be accessible in both systems. To achieve this, ensure that the same storage locations are configured in Customizing for both systems.
During distribution, the document info record is copied from the source system to the target system. However, the originals stay in the secure storage area. Only the information about the storage location is distributed.
Note
In Customizing for document management, you can specify which originals are distributed from which storage location with which application.
Cross-System Access II
Originals can be centrally stored and managed in one or more content servers if these servers are linked.
Distribution of Storage Locations
Repositories (HTTP content servers) can be placed close to users. Storage locations are assigned to the users' workplaces and the positions of these storage locations. To speed up check-in, a suitable category based on the user's location is automatically determined for the document. These settings are configured in the SAP system. The potential disadvantages of spatial distribution during reading can be mitigated by caching.
Caching
Depending on the user's workplace (location), read access is made via a special cache server located nearby. If the document is not already in the cache, the cache server retrieves it from the SAP content server. The cache server, similar to the SAP content server, uses a database repository and is accessed via URLs. Documents only need to traverse the WAN once.
Reasons for Caching:
- Provides fast network access without slowing down the network.
- Caching is not replication; the original remains on the content server.
- Cache content can be replenished from the content server at any time, copying only the required documents.