SAP NetWeaver Application Server or SAP Web Application Server is a component of

SAP NetWeaver SAP NetWeaver is a software stack for many of SAP SE's applications. The SAP NetWeaver Application Server, sometimes referred to as WebAS, is the runtime environment for the SAP applications and all of the mySAP Business Suite runs on SAP WebA ...

which works as a web application server for SAP products. All

ABAP ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming, originally ''Allgemeiner Berichts-Aufbereitungs-Prozessor'', German for "general report preparation processor") is a high-level programming language created by the German software company SAP SE. ...

application servers including the message server represent the application layer of the

multitier architecture In software engineering, multitier architecture (often referred to as ''n''-tier architecture) is a client–server architecture in which presentation, application processing and data management functions are physically separated. The most wide ...

of an ABAP-based SAP system. These application servers execute ABAP applications and communicate with the presentation components, the database, and also with each other, using the message server.

Architecture

The architecture of SAP Web Application Server can be separated into 5 areas: ; Presentation layer : In the presentation layer, the user interface can be developed with

JavaServer Pages Jakarta Server Pages (JSP; formerly JavaServer Pages) is a collection of technologies that helps software developers create dynamically generated web pages based on HTML, XML, SOAP, or other document types. Released in 1999 by Sun Microsystems, J ...

(JSP), Business Server Pages (BSP), or with

Web Dynpro Web Dynpro (WD) is a web application technology developed by SAP SE that focuses on the development of server-side business applications. For modern releases (for instance as of NetWeaver 750, software layer SAP_UI) the user interface is rendered ...

technology. The underlying business layer provides the business content in Java or ABAP. ; Business layer : The business layer consists of a J2EE certified run-time environment that processes the requests passed from the Internet Communication Manager (ICM) and dynamically generates the responses. The business logic can be written either in ABAP or in Java based on the J2EE standard. Developers can implement business logic and persistence with

Enterprise JavaBeans Jakarta Enterprise Beans (EJB; formerly Enterprise JavaBeans) is one of several Java APIs for modular construction of enterprise software. EJB is a server-side software component that encapsulates business logic of an application. An EJB web ...

(EJB) using the J2EE environment. Developers can also access the business objects of applications running in the ABAP environment to benefit from their business logic and persistence. ; Integration layer : The local integration engine is an integral part of SAP Web AS and allows instant connection to SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (SAP PI; formerly called SAP Exchange Infrastructure). The local integration engine provides messaging services that exchange messages between the components that are connected in SAP PI. ; Connectivity layer : The Internet Communication Manager (ICM) dispatches user interface requests to the presentation layer and provides a single framework for connectivity using various communication protocols. Currently, modules are available for

Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, wher ...

(HTTP),

HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It uses encryption for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protoc ...

(extension of HTTP running under the

Secure Sockets Layer Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol designed to provide communications security over a computer network, such as the Internet. The protocol is widely used in applications such as email, instant messaging, and voice over IP, ...

(SSL)),

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an Internet standard communication protocol for electronic mail transmission. Mail servers and other message transfer agents use SMTP to send and receive mail messages. User-level email clients typ ...

(SMTP), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), and Fast Common Gateway Interface (FastCGI). ; Persistence layer : The persistence layer supports database independence and scalable transaction handling. Business logic can be developed completely independent of the underlying database and operating system. Database independence is also made possible by support for open standards. The database interface ensures optimized data access from within the ABAP environment through Open SQL. SAP propagates the outstanding capabilities of Open SQL for ABAP to Open SQL for Java and offers a variety of standard

Application Programming Interface An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software Interface (computing), interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that des ...

s (APIs) to application programmers, such as SQLJ. Other technologies, such as

Java Data Objects Java Data Objects (JDO) is a specification of Java object persistence. One of its features is a transparency of the persistence services to the domain model. JDO persistent objects are ordinary Java programming language classes ( POJOs); there i ...

(JDO) and Container-Managed Persistence ( CMP) for EJB, or the direct use of the

Java Database Connectivity Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) is an application programming interface (API) for the Java programming language which defines how a client may access a database. It is a Java-based data access technology used for Java database connectivity. It is ...

(JDBC) API, are also supported.

Security

Authentication

The SAP NetWeaver AS can accept multiple forms of authentication: * SAP Logon Ticket with appropriate configuration. * Other single sign-on technology that utilizes x.509 certificates and the combination of Secure Network Communications (SNC) and

(SSL) for one standardize authentication platform.

Communications

The SAP NetWeaver Application Server's connectivity layer supports

which is required for encrypted communications via

. It is possible to enable SSL using the SAP Cryptographic Library. If a company is running with traditional SAP systems that only uses RFC and DIAG protocols, Secure Network Communications is required for encrypted communications as wellSecure Network Communications
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References

External links

ABAP Development
discussions, blogs, documents and videos on th
SAP Community Network (SCN)

SAP Netweaver Capabilities - Java Development
discussions, blogs, documents and videos on th
SAP Community Network (SCN)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sap Netweaver Application Server

Application Server An application server is a server that hosts applications or software that delivers a business application through a communication protocol. For a typical web application, the application server sits behind the web servers. An application ser ...