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 Web ...

which works as a web application server for

SAP Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separ ...

products. All ABAP 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 (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 The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 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, w ...

(HTTP),

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

(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. The protocol is widely used in applications such as email, instant messaging, and voice over IP, but its use in sec ...

(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 typic ...

(SMTP), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), and Fast Common Gateway Interface (FastCGI). ; Persistence layer : The persistence layer supports database independence and scalable

transaction Transaction or transactional may refer to: Commerce * Financial transaction, an agreement, communication, or movement carried out between a buyer and a seller to exchange an asset for payment *Debits and credits in a Double-entry bookkeeping sys ...

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 Interfaces (APIs) to application programmers, such as SQLJ. Other technologies, such as Java Data Objects (JDO) and

Container-Managed Persistence 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 ...

( CMP) for EJB, or the direct use of the

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

(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 Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication scheme that allows a user to log in with a single ID to any of several related, yet independent, software systems. True single sign-on allows the user to log in once and access services without re-enterin ...

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 Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a s ...

. 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