Moving SAP's CData Connections to Syniti Data Provider

  • Updated on Oct 15, 2024
  • Published on Jun 13, 2024
  • 6 minute(s) read
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Note

Starting with Syniti Replicate v10.7.0.4, Syniti introduces the new Syniti Data Provider driver for SAP Systems.

Overview

In Syniti Replicate v10.7.0.4, Syniti has introduced a new SAP application data provider, named Syniti or Syniti SAP Data Provider that supports both Refresh and Mirroring (Change Data Capture (CDC)) capabilities via the SAP Application layer. The new data provider supports data streaming, rather than the previous batch extract mechanism, which improves the extraction times on huge volume of tables dramatically. For example, DD03L: approximately, 5 hours and 7 minutes.

In Syniti Replicate v10.7.0.4, Syniti supports Refresh streaming on S/4HANA and ECC across all database platforms. Syniti also supports mirroring (CDC) on S/4HANA and ECC running on SAP HANA, Microsoft SQL Server, and Oracle.

To use this new functionality on existing connections in Replicate, a manual upgrade process needs to be followed. This article details the available upgrade methods and processes involved in upgrading the data provider from CData-based data provider, and also how to take advantage of the streaming capability to improve existing replication performance using the new Syniti Data Provider.

Upgrade Methods

Two methods are available for upgrading an existing connection in Syniti Replicate Management Center.

  • Method A: Replace the CData data provider with the Syniti Data Provider without enabling the mirroring or streaming capabilities.

  • Method B: Replace the CData data provider with the Syniti Data Provider, and enable the mirroring and streaming capabilities.

Method B builds on top of Method A. In this article, you’ll find steps for Method A followed by the additional steps for Method B. This article does not focus on the mirroring or change data capture (CDC) setup. It only focuses on switching to use the data streaming via the new transport and data provider. To enable mirroring replication mode, refer to the links referenced in the Prerequisites section.

Prerequisites

  • The installation of Syniti Replicate v10.7.0.4 or later is required, which includes the new Syniti SAP data provider.

  • If the Streaming and Mirroring capabilities need to be deployed under Method B, then the respective SAP Transports must be deployed to each SAP system that you want to extract data from as detailed in the following articles:

Method A: Switch Data Provider Only

Note

If you want to test the connectivity using the new data provider, you can copy and paste a connection in Replicate using the following steps:

  1. Right-click the required connection and select Copy Connection

  2. In the left-side panel, right-click the Source folder and select Paste Connection. The new copied connection appears, and you will be able to rename the connection as required.

  3. Rename the selected connection and click on the blank area on the page. The connection details are be saved into the Replicate metadata repository.

You can then test the changes to the Connection without affecting your existing connection and Replications setup until you are require changes.

Complete the following steps to only switch to the data provider:

  1. Click the Source Connection that you want to change, and select the Replication Monitor tab in the right-side panel to display all replications associated with the Source Connection. At this moment, you have two options to select:

    1. Stop the Replication Agent service (Windows Services), which will stop all Replications from running.

    2. Alternatively, disable any enabled Replications associated to the Source Connection.

      Note

      No Replication can be enabled or executed until changes to the Connection is made.

  2. Ensure that all Replications are in a disabled state or the service is stopped.

  3. Right-click the Source Connection and select Connection Properties. The Source Connection Properties dialog box is displayed.

    A screenshot of a computer Description automatically generated

  4. In General > Connection, click the ellipses (…) button to open the data provider dialog box.

    Note

    You will now notice that on the Provider list, you will have two options: CData and Syniti. Do not change the provider yet.

    A screenshot of a computer Description automatically generated

  5. At the end of the Connection String property, click the ellipses (...) button to open the Connection properties.

  6. In the DSN Configuration dialog box, select the Advanced tab and make a note of the following property values:

    1. Host

    2. System Number

    3. User

    4. Password

      Note

      You may need to request this as it won’t be visible in the configuration page and is required for transferring the connection to the new data provider)

    5. Client

    6. Read Table Function

    7. Optionally, if Secure Network Communications (SNC) is being used, then record the settings for SNC, that is, Mode, Name, QOP, Partner Name, and Library Path.

  7. Close the DSN Configuration dialog box to return to the Connection Properties dialog box.

  8. From the Provider list, change the provider from CDATA SAP RFC ODBC Driver 64-bit to Syniti SAP RFC .Net Data Provider and enter the connection details you’ve recorded from Step 6.

    A screenshot of a computer Description automatically generated

  9. Set the following connection properties using the values recorded from Step 6:

    1. AppServerHost: Host value, that is, ip address

    2. System Id: <set to the System ID of your SAP system>, for example, SD2

    3. Client: Client value, for example, 100

    4. System Number: System Number value, for example, 00

    5. User: User value

    6. Password: Password

    7. Language: <language that you want to extract with>, for example, EN

    8. Read Table: Read Table Function, for example, /BOA/SDRM_READ_TABLE_V2

    9. Gateway Service: 33<System Number value>, for example, 3300

    10. Connection Count: 10 (default setting, limiting the number of parallel Replications)

    11. Optionally, set the SNC parameters if configured to use SNC or the Message Server properties if connecting via a Message server.

  10. To test the connection, click the Test button at the bottom of the Connection Properties dialog box.

  11. If successful, then click OK button and click then Apply.

  12. Click OK in the main Connection Properties dialog box to save the connection changes.

  13. Before starting the Replication Agent service or running replications, it is necessary to Refresh Schema for all tables. This action allows Syniti Replicate to reflect the new table structure used in the new Syniti Data Provider.

    Note

    The new Syniti Data Provider replaces the underscore (_) characters in the field names with backslash (/) characters. The below example shows the changes made to the long text extraction metadata (BOAQ_READ_TEXT/BS4Q_READ_TEXT).

  14. Once the Refresh schema is complete, ensure to map the fields in Replication Properties > Mapping.

  15. You can now start the Replication Agent service or enable the disabled Replications and test by running a Refresh of a specific Replication.

Note

It is expected that you will not see any change in the performance of the Replication as it is still utilizing the Batch Read functionality.

Important!

  • If you are planning to move to Method B, do not restart the Replication Agent service or enable the Replications.

  • Only proceed with Method B, if the SAP transports have been deployed to the SAP source system and the correct security or authorization changes have been applied as detailed in the help articles referenced in the Prerequisites section.

Method B: Enable Streaming

  1. Right-click the Source SAP Connection and select Connection Properties. The Source Connection Properties dialog box is displayed.

  2. In General > Connection, click the ellipses (…) button to open the data provider dialog box.

  3. Edit the following connection properties:

    1. Read Table:

      • For ECC: /BOA/SDRM_READ_TABLE

      • For S/4HANA: /BS4/SDRM_READ_TABLE

    2. Stream Read Table: (ECC) or (S/4HANA)

      • For ECC: /BOA/STREAM_READ_TABLE

      • For S/4HANA: /BS4/STREAM_READ_TABLE

    3. Destination Server: NCO_SERVER (if following the help articles referenced in the Prerequisites section). Aligned to the name of the SM59 destination server you configured.

      Note

      Ensure case matches the destination server in SAP.

    4. Program ID: SKPStreamServer (if following the help articles referenced in the Prerequisites section). Aligned to the Program Id assigned to the destination configured in SAP.

      Note

      Ensure case matches the setting in the destination server registration in SAP.

  4. Click Test to ensure that the connection can communicate with SAP and click OK, and then click Apply.

  5. Click OK in the main Connection Properties dialog box to save the connection changes.

  6. Before starting the Replication Agent service or running replications, it is necessary to Refresh Schema for all tables. This action allows Syniti Replicate to reflect the new table structure used in the new Syniti Data Provider.

    Note

    The new Syniti Data Provider replaces the underscore (_) characters only in the field names with backslashes (/) that starts with BOA.

  7. Once the Refresh schema is complete, ensure to map the fields in Replication Properties > Mapping.

  8. Start the Replication Agent service or re-enable the Replications that you disabled at the beginning of the process and run a refresh on one of the larger tables to test out the performance of the new data provider and Streaming-based extraction capability. It is expected that a difference in extraction performance is expected over the old BatchRead-based extraction mechanism.

  9. Repeat the above steps for any additional SAP source system connections where you wish to make use of the streaming and mirroring capabilities introduced in Syniti Replicate v10.7.0.4 or later either individually or in combination.