What is SAP Netweaver?

[former_member197442]

About this Blog

Many-a-times I come across people who ask "what is Netweaver?" or make vague comments like "... this will need Netweaver" or substitute Netweaver for the term "java". So I decided to write this very short blog which could serve as a quick read for someone trying to find out What is SAP Netweaver?

The idea is to provide ... let's say for the lack of a better term ... an elevator speech about what Netweaver is and how it fits in the SAP ecosystem. Netweaver is a huge concept and platform that SAP has grown on.

So, What is SAP Netweaver?

SAP Netweaver is a platform that -

1. support various SAP applications such as - ERP, CRM, etc
2. provides usage types for analytics and integration, such as – BW, PI & Portal, etc.
3. can operate independently (a.k.a. Standalone Instances) for various purposes, such as –
   • ABAP or J2EE services
   • Monitoring, Basis services (e.g. email, fax, ccms, etc)
   • Platform for specific add-ons (e.g. LVM, GRC, ILM, ADS, etc)

Netweaver runs both Java (or rightfully, J2EE Services) and ABAP independently or in some cases both ABAP and Java together (eg. Solution Manager and PI).
Netweaver also has its own release and release strategy. For example NW 7.0 or NW 7.0 EHP1 or NW 7.3.
Not all products run on all Netweaver versions. For example –
• ERP 6.0 EHPx runs only on NW 7.0 EHPx and is not released for NW 7.3 EHPx
• NW 7.1 was released only for certain usage types such as PI, Portal or BW
• etc.

What SAP Netweaver is not?

SAP Netweaver is not always a “Java” instance nor necessarily a product that you will have to install. The architecture has to be rightly chosen depending on the business problem you are trying to solve.

For example, sometimes it would make sense to use the existing SAP Portal platform to also support other add-ons while sometimes it just makes sense to separate them out. Another example - you might decide to install SAP Netweaver Gateway (which is an add-on) on a separate Netweaver system with ABAP-only stack instead of running it on the Netweaver available within an ECC system.

So, when someone says Netweaver (vaguely) ...

... ask him/her to be more specific. Ask –

• what usage type will be used?
• Would it be a standalone system (separate SID)?
• Will it be an ABAP stack or Java?
• ....

Additional References:

SAP Netweaver System Landscapes

Online Documentation (Help)