Archive Repository - Content Server or Root File System?

[Former Member]

Hi All,

We are in the process of evaluating a storage solution for archiving and I would like to hear your experiences and recommendations. I've ruled out 3rd-party solutions such as IXOS as over kill for our requirement. That leaves us with the i5/OS root file system or the SAP Content Server in either a Linux partition or on a Windows server. Has anyone done archiving with a similar setup? What issues did you face? I don't plan to replicate archive objects via MIMIX.

Is anyone running the SAP Content Server in a Linux partition? I'd like to know your experience with this even if you don't use the Content Server for archiving. We use the Content Server (currently on Windows) for attaching files to SAP documents (e.g., Sales Documents) via Generic Object Services (GOS). While I lean towards running separate instances of the Content Server for Archiving and GOS, I would like to run them both in the same Linux LPAR.

TIA,

Stan

[Private_Member_435482]

Hi Stanley,

I am SAP Archiving consultant with multiple global implementations. I agree with you that the iXOS is very expensive and provides deep functionality for a small SAP shop. Deciding on third party storage implementation is based on compliance and functionality.

For example if you want imaging of invoices, purchase orders etc then third party system is a must. Also if the users are world wide and you need to retrieve invoice images with minumum response times then you need a good third party system which can fulfill such requirements.

If your need is only archiving of R/3 transaction data, you can safely store archive data on file system using SAP CS. And whenever you have third party system you can always transport the archived data from the file system to third party without any data loss.

Thanks

Mohammed

[Former Member]

Hi Stanley,

If you choose to store your data archive files at the file system level, is that a secure enough environment? A third party certified storage solution provides a secure system where the archive files cannot be altered and also provides a way to manage the files over the years until they have met their retention limit.

Another thing to consider, just because the end users may not need access to the archived data, your company might need to be able to access the data easily due to an audit or law suit situation.

I am a SAP customer whose job function is the technical lead for my company's SAP data archiving projects, not a 3rd party storage solution provider , and I highly recommend a certified storage solution for compliance reasons.

Also, here is some information from the SAP Data Archiving web pages concerning using SAP Content Server for data archive files:

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10. Is the SAP Content Server suitable for data archiving?

Up to and including SAP Content Server 6.20 the SAP CS is not designed to handle large files, which are common in data archiving. The new SAP CS 6.30 is designed to also handle large files and can therefore technically be used to store archive files. SAP CS does not support optical media. It is especially important to regularly run backups on the existing data!

Recommendation for using SAP CS for data archiving:

Store the files on SAP CS in a decompressed format (make settings at the repository)

Install SAP CS and SAP DB on one server

Use SAP CS for Unix (runtime tests to see how SAP CS for Windows behaves with large files still have to be carried out)

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Best Regards,

Karin Tillotson

[Former Member]

Hello Stanley,

Chose the File System option long time ago, when the functional side said that they would not need to read the archived data after 6 months... It is just not true. Even with a well-organized File System structure for backup/retrieve, the content server should be much easier to manage (based on the testing we had years ago).

For File System solution, no real issue found, even with Mimix replication.

Best regards,

Victor