All data archiving activities commence
with Archive administration (transaction SARA). SARA provides the overall
administration of archiving schedules and manages the archiving sessions. The
process includes customization of objects, their conversion to archived
sequential archived files and most importantly, their overall management. In
addition to these, the archive administration process also retrieves the
archived files and converts the data through an automated process, if there is a
change in software, hardware or the data structure. The data archiving process
is streamlined and simplified through the Central command of archiving
administration.
DART (Data Retention Tool)
A data retention strategy is required
for retaining enterprise information for long periods of time. The Data
Retention Tool (DART) provides this functionality. It is capable of extracting
data, which is period-specific as well as any supporting information. DART
transforms database objects into flat files that can be read by any third-party
software designed for flat files. It is available as an add-on for older
versions of SAP R/3, but is an integrated feature of the recent versions of SAP
R/3.
SAP Archive Information System
(SARI)
SARI provides much-needed retrieval
capabilities against previously archived data. It requires the archive files be
loaded into new tables in the database. In this approach, AS requires detailed,
technical knowledge of the database table structure and field layouts. Database
structure of an enterprise needs to be flexible and dynamic to be able to
quickly adapt to organisational changes. It might happen that the current
database structure is not compatible with the structure of database when archive
files were initially generated. Archive Information System is a standard tool
delivered by SAP that facilitates customized access to the archived data.
The success of R/3 has propelled SAP to
the top echelons of the global software industry. Archiving is an essential
element of a complete and efficient implementation of SAP. Lack of familiarity
with archiving tools among SAP user groups has hampered the popularity and
effectiveness of SAP Archiving. SAP Archiving is perceived to be complex to
understand and implement. With the right strategy and adequate knowledge, an
enterprise can harness the full potential of SAP R/3.
