Skip to main content

Accelerate Data Replication with SAP SLT: Real-time Made Easy!

SLT (SAP Landscape Transformation) is a powerful ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tool designed to facilitate real-time or scheduled data replication from SAP source systems or non-SAP systems into SAP HANA Database. It employs a trigger-based replication approach, which means that database triggers are activated whenever data is populated in the logging table.

Here are some key details about SLT:

  1. Real-time and Scheduled Replication: SLT enables both real-time and scheduled data replication. It ensures that changes made in the source system are promptly replicated to the target system.

  2. Support for Cluster and Pool Tables: SLT can replicate data from both Cluster tables and Pool tables, allowing for a comprehensive data replication solution.

  3. Real-time Data Transformation: SLT not only replicates data but also provides transformation capabilities to convert the data into the appropriate format for SAP HANA. This ensures that data is readily usable in the target system.

  4. Integration with HANA Studio: SLT is seamlessly integrated with HANA Studio, providing a user-friendly interface for managing and monitoring the replication processes.

  5. Table and Rule Settings: SLT offers flexible table settings and rule settings, allowing for customizable data replication and transformation processes to meet specific business requirements.

  6. Monitoring Capabilities: SLT can be monitored using the SAP Solution Manager, providing comprehensive insights into the replication status and performance.

Architecture of SAP SLT server with SAP as Source System:



  • DB Triggers: SLT utilizes database triggers to monitor events such as inserts, deletes, modifications, and updates that occur in the application table of the source system.

  • Logging Tables: When a database trigger is activated, the modified data is stored in logging tables created on the source system. These logging tables serve as a temporary storage for replicated data.

  • Read Engine: The read engine reads the data from the logging tables and sends it to the SLT Replication server.

  • Mapping and Transformation Engine: This engine handles the structured transformation of data to match the target HANA DB format, ensuring compatibility and consistency.

  • Write Engine: The write engine is responsible for writing the transformed data into the HANA DB from the SLT Replication server.

The installation of SAP SLT Replication Server can be done in two scenarios:

  1. Source System is SAP System: In this case, the SLT Replication Server can be installed either as a standalone system or on the source system itself.

  2. Source System is Non-SAP System: When the source system is a non-SAP system, the SLT Replication Server can only be installed as a standalone system. Additionally, a DB connection is established between the non-SAP source system and the SLT Replication Server, while an RFC connection is used with an SAP source system.

How SLT Works:

The replication process between the SAP source system, SLT Replication server, and HANA DB involves the following steps:

  1. Establish RFC Connection: An RFC connection is set up between the SAP source system and the SLT Replication Server.

  2. Establish DB Connection: A DB connection is established between the SLT Replication server and the HANA DB.

  3. Initial Load: When the replication option is executed for a table for the first time, the system loads the entire data from the application table into the HANA DB.

  4. Replication: After the initial load, the status changes from "Load" to "Replicate." The DB trigger and logging table are created in the source system to store modified data as per the triggers.

  5. Data Read and Transformation: The read engine retrieves data from the logging table and sends it to the SLT Replication server via the RFC connection. The SLT Replication server then performs necessary transformations and formatting to match the HANA format.

  6. Data Writing: The write engine writes the transformed data into the HANA DB using the DB connection, ensuring that the replicated data is securely stored in the target system.

Note :

Replicating archive tables is supported since DMIS 2011 SP11. Supported Source systems for archiving are listed in the two following notes:

2325520 - Installation/Upgrade SLT - DMIS 2011 SP11 2415064 - Installation/Upgrade SLT - DMIS 2011 SP12


While reading about SLT I came across another blog which focuses on a real time use case,

We will focus on a specific use case of SAP Landscape Transformation Replication Server (SLT) that highlights its cost-saving benefits. The author shares their experience of working on a project where the customer was reporting directly against their HANA ECC database using Calculation Views with SAP and non-SAP reporting tools. This required an expensive Enterprise license for the full ECC instance.

To reduce costs, the author suggested an alternative approach. They recommended the customer to stop reporting directly against the main ECC system and instead use a "sidecar" HANA Enterprise instance with replicated data. This solution would help reduce overall costs. Since an SLT runtime license is included with the HANA Enterprise license, implementing SLT for simple replication was the recommended choice.

SLT is positioned as a solution for businesses using HANA as a reporting database. It addresses the need for quick and easy data replication into HANA to facilitate reporting and decision-making. SLT is a suitable option for real-time or schedule-based replication from both SAP and non-SAP sources, whether on-premise or in the cloud. The use cases for SLT mentioned in the blog post include:

  • Real-time provisioning of data for operational reporting and dashboards
  • Batch loading of enterprise data warehouses
  • Reducing administrative effort for high-frequency master data updates
  • Replicating financial data from SAP and non-SAP ERP systems to SAP Simple Finance
  • Synchronizing data between two or more SAP ERP systems
  • Replacing an existing solution with SLT to achieve real-time data replication
  • Handling of all native SAP table formats, including Cluster and Pool tables
  • Integration with HANA Studio for seamless management
  • Monitoring capabilities using SAP HANA Solution Manager
  • Support for non-Unicode and Unicode conversion during load/replication
  • Mobile capability through SLT Replication Manager for monitoring data replication process and system parameters from anywhere using a mobile device connected to the internet

Reference and Relevant Notes:-

Youtube Video : Explaining SLT in detail

Blog inspiration : Sudhir Kumar's Blog

Use Case of SLT in details : Rashi Singal' Blog

1605140 - SAP Landscape Transformation Replication Server (SLT)

3318703 - How to confirm if SLT replication is working properly?

2014562 - FAQ: SAP HANA LT Replication Server (SLT)

1768805 - SAP Landscape Transformation Replication Server (SLT): Non ABAP-based Sources

2372636 - Cannot replicate data when different trigger options exist - SLT

2796027 - How many times can a table be replicated using SLT?

2575237 - What does a Red Status in LTRC mean? - SLT





Comments

Post a Comment

You might find these interesting

How to properly Start/Stop SAP system through command line ?

Starting/stopping an SAP system is not a critical task, but the method that most of us follow to achieve this is sometimes wrong. A common mistake that most of the SAP admins do is, making use of the 'startsap' and 'stopsap' commands for starting/stopping the system.  These commands got deprecated in 2015 because the scripts were not being maintained anymore and SAP recommends not to use them as many people have faced errors while executing those scripts. For more info and the bugs in scripts, you can check the sap note 809477.  These scripts are not available in kernel version 7.73 and later. So if these are not the correct commands, then how to start/stop the sap system?  In this post, we will see how to do it in the correct way. SAP SYSTEM VS INSTANCE In SAP, an instance is a group of resources such as memory, work processes and so on, usually in support of a single application server or database server with
13 comments
Read more

sapstartsrv is not started or sapcontrol is not working

 What is sapstartsrv ? The SAP start service runs on every computer where an instance of an SAP system is started. It is implemented as a service on Windows, and as a daemon on UNIX. The process is called  sapstartsrv.exe   on Windows, and   sapstartsrv   on UNIX platforms. The SAP start service provides the following functions for monitoring SAP systems, instances, and processes. Starting and stopping Monitoring the runtime state Reading logs, traces, and configuration files Technical information, such as network ports, active sessions, thread lists, etc. These services are provided on SAPControl SOAP Web Service, and used by SAP monitoring tools (SAP Management Console,  SAP NetWeaver  Administrator, etc.). For more understanding use this link : https://help.sap.com/doc/saphelp_nw73ehp1/7.31.19/enUS/b3/903925c34a45e28a2861b59c3c5623/content.htm?no_cache=true How to check if it is working or not ? In case of linux , you can simply ps -ef | grep sapstartsrv In case of windows, you need
Post a Comment
Read more

HANA System Replication - Prerequisites & Setup

Hey Folks! Welcome back to Hana high availability blog series. In our last blog we checked out operation & replication modes in hana system replication. If you haven't gone though that blog, you can checkout  this link In this blog we will be talking about the prerequisites of hana replication and it's setup. So let's get started. When we plan to setup hana system replication, we need to make sure that all prerequisite steps have been followed. Let's have a look at these prerequisites. HANA System Replication Prerequisites: Primary & secondary systems should be up & running HDB version of secondary should be greater than or equal to Primary database sever But, for Active/Active(read enabled config), HDB version should be same on both sites. System configuration/ini files should be identical on both sides Replication happe
3 comments
Read more

ST03N : The chapter for all BASIS Admins

This blog is targeted to BASIS ADMINS Transaction for workload analysis statistical data changed over time are monitored using transaction code ST03 , now ST03N (from SAP R/3 4.6C) . With SAP Web AS 6.4 the transaction ST03 is available again. From time to time ST03 and ST03N has seen many changes but later in SAP NW7.0 ST03N has reworked in detail specially processing time is now shown in separate column. Main Use of ST03N  is to get detailed information on performance of any ABAP based SAP system. Workload monitor analyzes the statistical data originally collected by kernel. You can compare or analyze the performance of a single application server or multiple application server. Using this you start checking from the entire system and finding your way to that one application server and narrowing down to exact issue. By Default :- You see data of current day as default view , you can change the default view. Source of the image : sap-perf.ca Let's discuss the WORKLOAD MONITOR By D
4 comments
Read more

How to resolve Common Error : Standard Template "sap_sm.xls" missing

Hey everyone, putting forward a common error we usually face when we have “ Excel inplace” functionality enabled in our SAP system. This error occurs when validity of the signature of SAP standard templates expired or were incorrectly delivered via support packages. We can reproduce the error by doing as below.. Click on “spreadsheet” icon after any SAP ALV grid view of data is on screen to make this data to export into excel directly from SAP.
1 comment
Read more

HANA hdbuserstore

The hdbuserstore (hana secure user store) is a tool which comes as an executable with the SAP Hana Client package. This secure user store allows you to store SAP HANA connection information, including user passwords, securely on clients. With the help of secure store, the client applications can connect to SAP HANA without the user having to enter host name or logon credentials. You can also use the secure store to configure failover support for application servers in a 3-tier scenario (for example, SAP Business Warehouse) by storing a list of all the hosts that the application server can connect to. To access the system using secure store, there are two connect options: (1)key and (2)virtualHostName. key is the hdbuserstore key that you use to connect to SAP HANA, while virtualHostName specifies the virtual host name. This option allows you to change where the hdbuserstore searches for the data and key files. Note
3 comments
Read more

Work Process and Memory Management in SAP

Let’s talk about the entire concepts that are related to memory when we talk about SAP Application. Starting with few basic terminologies, Local Memory :  Local process memory, the operating system keeps the two allocation steps transparent. The operating system does the other tasks, such as reserving physical memory, loading and unloading virtual memory into and out of the main memory. Shared Memory :  If several processes are to access the same memory area, the two allocation steps are not transparent. One object is created that represents the physical memory and can be used by various processes. The processes can map the object fully or partially into the address space. The way this is done varies from platform to platform. Memory mapped files, unnamed mapped files, and shared memory are used.  Extended Memory : SAP extended memory is the core of the SAP memory management system. Each SAP work process has a part reserved in its virtual address space for extended memory. You can set
7 comments
Read more

Complete Guide : XPI Inspector Tool

Content of this blog :           What is an XPI Inspector Tool ? Why XPI Tool is used ? XPI standard URL How to check XPI Tool version ? How to Install/Update XPI version using TELNET How to Use XPI Tool ? References – SAP Notes What is XPI Inspector tool ?          -    XPI Inspector is a diagnostics web application developed by SAP that collects logs and debug traces from various PI components in a very simple way and is useful for SAP PI consultants, developers, and administrators to get more insights on an issue. Why XPI is used  – 1.  Used to collect traces and logs from Messaging system or XI module. 2. Used to collect the related information to solving the issues or improving the PI or PO systems’ performance. 3. Using XPI Inspector application you will be able to collect a lot of information about your system that will help you to learn about problems in the past, to analyze new and detect such at an early stage. 4. Performs certain number of configuration checks, such as SSL c
1 comment
Read more

SAP system migration blog series - part 1: migration overview

Summary : This blog is part 1 of the blog series on SAP system migration. In this blog, we will provide overview about SAP migration, types of migration, their differences and usage scenario. SAP migration overview :   As the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, said: “change is the only constant.” Same goes within SAP world too, often customer have to change the SAP systems along with its underlying components to meet the changing requirements, be it change from old hardware to new one, changing operating system, database. This change in SAP system components (DB, OS or Hardware) is termed as migration. Before we go into details of migration, let’s understand architecture of a typical SAP system.   An SAP system consist of SAP application instances, running on database (DB), hosted on operating system (OS), provisioned on hardware. Change in any one or more of these underlying components (DB, OS or hardware) warrant us to perform migration. Types of migration:   Broadly, there are two types
2 comments
Read more

SAP HANA System Replication - Operation Mode & Replication Mode

Hey Folks! Welcome back to Hana high availability blog series. In our last blog we checked out what is hana system replication and how it basically works. If you haven't gone through that blog, you can checkout link In this blog we will be talking about the replication modes and operation modes in hana system replication. So let's get started. When we setup the replication and register the secondary site, we need to decide the operation mode & replication mode we want to choose for replication. For now we won't focus on setting up replication as we'll cover it in our next blogs.  Operation Modes in Hana System Replication: There are three operation modes available in system replication: delta_datashipping, logreplay and logreplay_readaccess. Default operation mode is logreplay. 1. Delta_datashipping: In this operation mode initially one full data shipping is done as part of replication setup and then a delta data shipping takes place occasionally in addition to cont
2 comments
Read more