ESA in A2A interfaceing

Good day,
I have a methodology question regarding the subject:
offcurse the ESA architecture makes a lot of sense in
B2B interfacing and in adding non-SAP systems to complete the SAP business processes in the organization system landscape, but what about in-house interface design,that is A2A interfacing? is this concept is the one to be taken when it comes to design and develop interfaces inside the organization? using XI for example?
Real life scenario example :
interfaces that are created only to create\delete or update master data not as part of a business process.
.e.g. the trigger for the message is a change in master data (Create material master data) and not a business process that was initiated (create purchase order).
I'll appreciate your answer as this subject has high impotents.
Nimrod Gisis

hi kartik,
i disagree with your comments and do not understand part of it. i think your mixing things up.
can there be a contradiction between XI and webservices at all? webservices are a way to describe service interfaces and transport protocols whereas XI being a (managed) messaging middleware does manage message exchange (monitoring, dispatching, if necessary mapping, etc.). you can well use XI to manage exchange of SOAP messages(from and to) webservices if (and thats the crucial point for me) the management tasks aren't done elsewhere.
Next, I wonder what you mean with enterprise services in suggested contradiction to webservices. In my understanding, enterprise services are enterprise grade web services, if you like, very robust, clearly defined and whatever web services.
Here's my thought on the original question. Of course you can use webservices technologies to manage your master data if you think that management of master data is worth a web service (or an enterprise service). in your example, if you already have a UI to manage master data and want to use a single additional (A2A) update channel from an application that isn't capable of creating SOAP messages, etc, you might do it differently, maybe using XI to map data.
If you want to put all your (internal as well as external) interfaces on a common technological ground it may well make sense to web service enable all of those entities and keep their WSDLs in a common repository (local UDDI or Enterprise Service Repository).
hope that helps,
anton
PS: Kartik, please don't understand this as an offense, i'd rather be interested to understand your point of view.

Similar Messages

A2A vs A2x

Hi All, i hope someone can help.
I am currently busy with ISH implementation.
We have PI as well as the ISH ecc6 with ehp4 installed.
The ISH 640 package is installed on the PI and the SI are available in the ISH Backend system.
Now I noticed that when browsing on the SOAMANAGER of the backend system not all of the SI for Patientdata are displayed.
After some investigation on ES workspace i found that the interfaces that were displayed in SOAMANAGER were of type A2X and the ones that were not displayed were of type A2A.
Please can some point me to some document or explain what the technical difference between A2A and A2X is and how this impacts the usage of the A2A interfaces for a point to point scenario.
I want to expose the one of the interfaces (inbound A2A ) as a webservice and publish to the SR. Is this possible or is it only possible to use the A2A SI in SAP -> PI -> SAP scenario.
Thanks in advance

HI Mohan,

In A2A(Inside our Corporate Boundary) and B2B(Outside our Corporate Boundary) we need to have the following for sure
1) Sender and Receiver Adapter
2) Message Mapping (if the source and Target structures are different).
Yes correct, but you need to identify other system landscapes . For this you need to have Party configured.
Some quick Tips-
-Check the Firewalls/Security
-Should have different system Landscapes in place and need to know the communication protocols/message formats between different landscapes to make the good design
-Knowledge of networks/firewalls is additional while designing the solution
https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/servlet/prt/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/b0b355ae-0501-0010-3b83-8f2bb566fa47
For more-
http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw2004s/helpdata/en/da/7a2f41b239a831e10000000a1550b0/frameset.htm
http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw2004s/helpdata/en/2d/506e42f50b0d53e10000000a155106/frameset.htm
https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/servlet/prt/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/4f58802d-0a01-0010-e58b-d135f1b01dc5
Hope this helps,
Regards,
Moorthy

CCM automatic upload of CSV files

Dear CCM experts,
We are running CCM 2.0 installed within SRM and do not have XI in place so we use CSV files to load our catalogs manually via the web. We have to fullfill the requirement to load the catalogs automatically. The files should be "picked up" by a custom build abap program from a file server.
The question is: Are there function modules, abap programs that allow you to load the CSV files from the SRM GUI that we can incorporate in a custom build program? In other words, we load CSV files currently via the web, but which ABAP program/function module runs this process?
Thanks in advance.
We have a requirement to load our catalog

Hi
I guess this can be possible, but will require some research and analysis.
You need to create the function module based on your business requirement. Incase you need any help, do let me know.
Have a look at the following function modules, which will help.
 CALL FUNCTION 'WS_FILENAME_GET'
CALL FUNCTION 'RSDS_CONVERT_CSV'
Refer to following reports
BBP_NONR3_ADDRESS_UPLOAD
B_DOWNLOAD_EBP_USER_DATA
Class methods ->
/CCM/CL_FILE_UPLOAD_CSV
Meanwhile, Please refer to following SAP OSS notes ->
Note 898011 - Mass upload/dowload - delete item
Note 1043932 - Catalog Component Definitions
922392 Upload:Catalog content deleted when model updated
816937 Error in csv upload: short dump MESSAGE_TYPE_X
822074 Schema is sent to all packages during CSV 1.0 upload
796099 CSV 2.0: Downport to CCM
790368 CCM10: CSV Upload sends the catalog model before content
783385 CSV 1.0: inconsistent data entry possible with price
766384 CCM 1.0 enhanced with B2B/A2A interface
755230 CCM10SP01: upload predefined characteristic in the csv
603291 Information: Patches in DADB 311 and BB 30
688316 CSV upload fail on create partial response
Regards
- Atul

XI in a ESA-scenario

Hello,
anyone can explain me when it is useful to use the XI in an ESA-Scenario?
Thanks for your help!

Thomas,
XI and ccBPM provide many infrastructure or utility services that move a Service from being simple point-to-point solution to a managed Enterprise Service. They provide a substantial layer of abstraction and mediation for implementations that help accomplish the goals of ESA. As Greg mentions, real world examples of ESA will gravitate toward these solutions because the capabilities are required.
So, if you want to do Enterprise Services without XI and ccBPM you need to implement these capabilities yourself. For instance, if you need monitoring and the ability to re-play a SOAP message that never made it to a Service Provider, you must create a queue, create tools to interact with the queue, and expose the queue Service to Service consumer as a proxy for the Service Provider. You must do this to a Enterprise scale because you want to re-use the construct for all Services. I do not mean to imply that any of the above steps are hard, they are just needed.
You could create a Monitor Service and a Logging Service that you force all other services to call as part of every consumer request. In a sense you would have a business interface to the consumer, but you would force all providers to also make monitor and logging service calls as part of their implementation. Depending on how you go about this, you could end up with tight coupling between Monitor Service Version 1.0 and Business Service implementations you deliver around the same time. When you evolve Monitor Service 1.0 to 2.0, you will be faced with potentially updating any Business Service that used 1.0.
If you want to compose Services from existing Services then you need to make sure you have a mechanism to mediate change in the underlying services such that changes to a part of the composite service does not break the entire composite service. Failure to put this mediating layer in between will result in either fragile composite services or an increase in complexity for service consumers (they will need to implement some mediating code, which will also likely be fairly fragile given that it is re-implemented by each consumer).
Finally, with respect to the Netweaver infrastructure (XI, WebAS, ccBPM, Enterprise Services Investory and Repository) SAP continues to invest in exposing SAP core capabilities as Enterprise Services through Netweaver. To expose SAP core only through simple services leaves functionality we give you now, and we are enhancing in the future out of the Enterprise Services Landscape.
To your point about "Central infrastructure to enable interaction..." Long term I do think that a central, single infrastructure is not likely to be the answer for all services at all levels of granularity. I just suggest that you err on the side of robust, managed services because when you expose a service your really never know how consumers are going to use it.
In a real world scenario for a customer we expose two services from BW, an Authorization check for BW data as a Service and a BW Data Service that leveraged the Authorization Service, that we immediately used in an composite application in WebAS. In that example, the EJB-based application calls a simple Web Service exposed from BW. We did not go through XI, we did not add any other mediating or monitoring service. That was the proper approach for that particular need, and the level of abstraction and insulation we needed was provided by the simple service infrastructure of BW and WebAS. Now when other teams learned of the neat Data Service from BW we exposed and want to use it, should we just send them the WSDL and the endpoint address? I would argue that you should at least put some mediating infrastructure in between because neither party (Consumer or Provider) knows very much about the other. Adding this mediating layer has no impact on the original consumer-provider relationship that sparked the creation of the service, it simply protects future consumers. As consumers from all over the enteprise begin to consume our service we may need to change, bar, or even charge-back for the use of our service, so we need more control. We provide our Data Service as an enterprise service endpoint and then use all the NW stack to insure robust, auditable, secure, and changeable Services. Again, do you have to use XI to accomplish this, no you do not, but I would. We use both XI and ccBPM as part of the Service landscape for the customer I am referring to.
I hope this helps.

Need guidance of ESA C680 and M680

Hi All,
I am totally new for Cisco Ironport and due to some needs of present scenario I am engage to implement Cisco Email Security Appliance C680 as cluster with M680 for centralize management of ESA.
Could you please help me out to understand the basic installation help to basic configuration guide.
Current Infrastructure
1. Already using Ironport C670 & C3xx in cluster
2. Rough diagram as per my understanding attached.
Requirement:
1. Want to replace with new model C680 in cluster.
2. Need to configure M680 for centralize management of ESA.
3. To enable all new features and tighten the email security.
4. Separation of internal and external traffic.
5. Ip addressing to configure the two nos of C680 and one M680. (Management, communication etc etc)
6. To redesign as per the best practice.
Thanks in advance!

Hey Goutam,
This reply will be a high-level response as for concerns where you need to have infrastructure re-design to cater to new requirements, I believe your Cisco Systems(sales) engineers can be of better assistance as they will be able to provide details to assist in this regard.
With replacing existing models to the new C680
Best approach i would recommend.
Apply a temporary IP to your C680 devices and upgrade them to the same version as devices in the existing cluster so you can add them in.
If the C680 is in a newer version; then you may need to schedule an upgrade timing for existing clustered systems to match that of the C680 for an easier cluster integration process.
To configure ESA's to point to the M680 device, you need to ensure network routes on port 22 and SSH protocols are allowed between the IP interfaces that will be used to reach each other.
Ensure no SSH key fingerprint exchange interruption or proxying is happening as this will break the communication.
Configuring the SMA (M series) to talk to the ESA would require enabling the centralized services on the ESA ( GUI > Security Services > Centralized Tracking/Reporting and anything else) then go to the SMA (M series) and go to Management > Security Appliances, add the ESA's IP that will be communicated to and establish a connection
Once this is done, they're centralzied.
TO enable all new features, depending on which features you're seeking on -- some features require purchase of feature keys (thus your Cisco Sales/Systems engineer is the best person to approach to sort this) -- then general instructions are available through the Systems Online help guide on implementation and use of the features (GUI > Help and Support > Online Help)
Seperation of internal and external traffic, this is generally tied to Listeners -- if only using 1 Listener, then sendergroups will seperate inbound to outbound traffic.
If you device to wish to change from 1 listener to 2 for more seperation, network routes need to be configured from the devices on port 25, IP interface configured on ESA and new private/public listener setup to use the IP for seperation of traffic.
IP addressing for communication, GUI > Network > IP interfaces > Enable ports you want to allow for the management, communication is generally on port 22 between devices
Redesign best practises; as a TAC engineer myself, I cannot really comment on this.
Thanks
Matty

Use of the second interface

Hi,
I just configured the first interface of my C150 ESA with ip address, default gateway,listener, RAT and SMTP routes. I want my IronPort to handle mail for another domain with a totally independant netwotk (subnet and mail servers...). Can I configure the second interface the same way I configured the first one (obviously with all the good settings...;-)) ? Does it work? Is there no problem of IP or SMTP routing ?
To be short, I want to do two "one interface configuration" scheme with my ESA (which has two physical interfaces) and not a "two interfaces configuration" scheme
Thanks,
Vincent

Vincent - should be ok to do this. You have two options to do this:
1. Use the 2nd NIC port and assign IP.
2. Use the virtual gateway feature to get this 2nd IP address onto the network and then create a new listener on the virtual interface..this is much simpler and less work.
Use the interfaceconfig CLI command or in the GUI to do this. Bind the new interface with it's unique DMZ ip onto the same network card as used for the previous interface (data 1 i assume).
Option 2 is much easier
:wink:

MX LB / HA / Cluster ESA 380

We go to deploy our new ESA (2 devices) as per mentioned below plan,
ESA01 is primary for company A and ESA02 is primary for company B.
If ESA01 is down ESA02 will receive mail for company A using MX load balance. The same method for company B.
We are very confused on cluster with MX load balance on above scenario.
Like Two different ESA configurations devices can able include on single cluster. Since we have different policies for both companies and both companies have email server .
We need some explanation on above.
Please clarify on this

"Cluster" in ESA just means the configuration gets replicated.
So if you cluster them and want different policies for each company, you just go to Mail Polices/Incoming Mail Policies and create one for each company.
Add each domain you receive mail for to Mail Polices/Recipient Access Table
Add a route to each mail server for each domain under Network/SMTP routes
If you want separate "Host Access Tables" you can create separate listeners for each company (under Network/Listeners), and you may want to put them on separate IP interfaces, but you don't have to do this... one HAT may work just fine...

Can u breif me the meaining of interface in Integration Directory of XI

interface of Integration Directory and Java are same as i am new to XI and familiar with java, it would be helopful if i found the difference between interface between java interface and XI interface
Thanks & Regards,
Pushparaju.B.

Hi Pushpa raj,
It is very nice to see you here, Let me share my kowledge and it might help you to understand better.
1)wthat is meant by XI?
A) XI is nothing but Exchange Infrastructure.
2)What does it do?
A)It is middle ware tool like webmethods and tibco,XI is a middle tool ware tool provided by SAP.
   XI will gives an advantage to exchange the data between two systems.The System might be A2A or B2B.A2A is nothing but Application to Application and B2B is nothing but Business to Business.
EX:System A--XI--
>System B.
                        data                  data
See the abvoe example I have two system both these system might be sap to sap or sap to non sap applications.
I have a situation where want to send data from System A to System B..I need one middle ware tool such way that it will accept the system A data and undestand the data and it could get transfer to System B.
    Sucha situation we need middle ware tool like xi and for sending the system A data to System B though XI we need one interface where it can have both sender data and receiver data.
How a Interface looks,
System A contines two fileds and I want to send these data to System B
System A                                                       System B
First Name-Rama Rao                               FullName:--Rama RaoTatineni.
LastName----Tatineni
So the above information can be hold one interface and it will transfered to System B.
Hope you understand better...still if you have any question please feel free to ask so that I can help you out by clarifiying your doubts.
Note:Interface whichin java and interface which in XI is both are different.
Thanks in Advance.
Chandu.

ESA using SAP XI

Hi All-
There have been quite a few posting in this forum regarding the role of Exchange Infrastructure in achieving ESA.
XI acting as an integrator of the buisness processes; which actually inturn would aggregate to an organisation achieving the SOA.
I am not very sure on this; but according to my understanding, a lot would depend on the way the systems are potrayed in SAP XI System Landscape. More specifically the way the SLD(Software Component) is being laid out not just for the SAP but also for non SAP components with in an organisation.
My question is :- Are there any generic guidelines which can be followed for defining the Software Components within the SLD.
One of the methods that we are following is to arrange the Software Components and the Products for the Third Party components on the basis of products and software component which are being identified in that particular software product.
But, what would happen in case there are a lot of File to File interfaces. In such a case there won't be any specific product that we would be talking about and in that case may be arranging them using Business Processes may help.
Please provide your feedback.
Ashish Mittal
Message was edited by: Ashish Mittal

Hi Ashish,
I guess you have nailed down both the ways of defining the systems in the SLD of XI. Choosing one of them, I would guess will changes from landscape to landscape. However, I am inclined to say that defining a landscape from a business process perspective would make lot more sense (irrespective of systems being defined) as ESA is all about business processes and not about the technical systems.
In my view, as XI is going to be the central component, the SLD should be defined and maintained in XI and all the other systems in the landscape should be pointing to the SLD of XI.
Regards,
Ravi

Regarding A2A And B2B Integrations in SAP XI

Hi Experts,
I want to Know the Difference Between the A2A And B2B Integrations in XI.
Any one Can Please Explain me In General Words Using One Real Time Scenario.
Helpful ANS Will be Rewarded.
Regards
Khanna

Hi Rajesh ,
Today's business world is infinitely more complex than it was a long time ago.
Modern companies have a large number of applications that take care of
running the business. Such diverse applications weren't a problem initially
because they were meant to provide stand-alone, independent, and
automated functions. The result of this diversity was a collection of stovepipe
applications rather than a unified network of linked systems. But now, the
companies are realizing the utmost need to integrate these independent data
silos to leverage the information stored in them across the various vertical
and horizontal domains as well as surmount the ever-increasing costs of
building new applications.
And this is where an A2A Integration solution comes into the picture.
1>A2A Integration
A2A Integration is a collection of processes, software and hardware tools,
methodologies, and technologies. When implemented together, they have the
aim of consolidating, connecting, and organizing all the businesses computer
applications, data, and business processes (both legacy and new) into a
seamlessly interfaced framework of system components that allow real-time
exchange, management, and easy reformulation of the company's missioncritical
information and knowledge.
2> B2B Integration
B2B Integration is fundamentally about coordinating information among
businesses and their information systems.
In today's world with companies operating in a global business environment,
B2B Integration is a pre-requisite for them to remain competitive. They need
to come out of their shell and interact with their suppliers, partners, and
customers distributed throughout the world. B2B Integration enables a
company to focus on its core competencies and offload other services to
partners to gain efficiency and reduce cost.
For B2B integration in SAP Xi refer the following links .
/people/shailesh.mane/blog/2006/06/27/b2b-configuration-part-i--creating-an-integration-scenario
/people/shailesh.mane/blog/2006/06/29/b2b-configuration-part-ii--creating-the-configuration-using-the-automated-configuration-tool
Thanks ,
Suvarna
Award pts if this ans helps you .

A2A or B2B

Hi All,
I have a scenario, our client has SAP R/3 and they want to integrate SAP R/3 with their Vendor for their Transportation.
Vendor has sterling commerce system, So we can make the scenario's as File to Idoc & vice versa.
Now my Question is, Is this going to be A2A scenario or B2B??
I believe this will be B2B. Please correct me
Regards
Edited by: Bhavana Ch on May 11, 2011 6:23 PM

Hi,
Well , Technically speaking there would be not much difference. Its only a Business/Functional terminology.
Designwise , no much difference. Both would be same.
COnfigwise, we, as developers come to know, if we integrating with a system inside the organisation or Outside the organisation.
Example,
A webservice interface to a Non-sap tool within organisation(A2A).
we will be using the local URL in SOAP adapter.
A webservice interface to a Non-sap tool with a partner organisation of our client(B2B).
we will be using Partner organisation URL in SOAP adapter.
OR
sending the file output to a local tool(A2A).
FTP' ing the file to a partner(B2B).
-santosh.

Practical experience - Max no of interfaces.

Can anybody please share the practical experience about maximum number of interfaces handaled by XI implementation they've worked on?
I want to check the feasibility of using XI for the number of interfaces we foresee in our ERP landscape.
Would be very glad to receive answers in a format like
e.g. 200 interfaces ---> Involved RFC / IDoc/File/JMS --> Max message sizes processed = 15 MB.
Appreciate replies on this.

Hi Amol,
Not sure if this will help you.
I was involved in a implemention where the total number of interface were around 35 which included both A2A and B2B scenarios. Many scenarios where handled by BPM. JDBC, ABAP proxy, SOAP and IDOC adapters where used most often. The msg size is comparitively less here. The max size of a single msg is around 5 MB. But the frequency of many interfaces are very high( 1 sec poll interval)
There is another integration planned which could have around 200 interfaces mostly using file adapters and ABAP proxies.
Regards,
Jai Shankar

How many license do I need with a cluster of 2x ESA?

Hi there,
I would like to implement a cluster of 2x Cisco IronPort ESA appliances in an Active/Active manner.
It requires 4000 mail users, so how many license on each ESA appliance do I need to install? I suppose 2000 on each ESA.
When one of the ESA fails, is it possible for the remaining one to handle the load of 4000 users?
I am pretty new to this field. Please help.
Thanks and Regards,
Tuan, CCIE #26930

Dear Tuan,
For 4000 user size, you can purchase a dual appliance bundle with 1, 3 or 5 year license with 4000 mailbox licenses. You will be given 2 x C370 with Centralized Management license (together with licenses of your bundled feature set).
You can run both in active/active configuration. With centralized management license, both can be formed as a cluster and you can manage the cluster configuration over web interface of one of the appliances.
Regarding whether one unit can handle the load, it will depend on your traffic load (peak message per hour, average message size, antispam, antivirus, outbreak filter, DLP, encryption, content filters, etc.). In my experience, one C370 should be able to handle traffic of similar size enterprise.
With SenderBase reputation filtering, you should already throttle/block 90+% of bad traffic coming from poor/bad reputation IP hosts. You can also make sure of the new AsyncOS 7.6 'rate limit for envelope sender' to throttle mass mailing attack of same sender (also internal outbreak emails).
Please get in touch with your partner for the details and they can also show you a demo. You can also get a evaluation unit from our partner to put it live. We can configure IronPort to be almost transparent on top of your existing mail gateway/server to prove its performance, antispam efficacy and other email security features.
Cheers,
Tommy

Cisco Ironport ESA System setup wizard

Hi all,
i'm installing a Cisco ESA. I configured IP of Data1 and Management and Hostname with temporary data to enable feature keys.
Now i have to migrate those parameter to final configuration except management. IF i run again the system setup wizard does it blow up
the features installed and activated?
Thanks
smaikol

If you re-run systemsetup again from the CLI - it will reset the IP and listeners you have configured, along with the network information associated. You are presented the warning message from the CLI:
WARNING: The system setup wizard will completely delete any existing 'listeners' and all associated settings including the 'Host Access Table'
- mail operations may be interrupted.
</warning>
The features themselves are still present and licensed, and should not change. During the setup wizard prompts - you are asked if you want to use and enable the features - such as Anti-Spam, Anti-Virus:
Do you want to use Anti-Spam scanning in the default Incoming Mail policy? [Y]>
Would you like to enable the Spam Quarantine? [Y]>
1. IronPort Anti-Spam
2. Intelligent Multi-Scan
3. Cloudmark Service Provider Edition
Enter the number of the Anti-Spam engine you would like to use on the default Incoming Mail policy.
[]> 1
IronPort selected for DEFAULT policy
Do you want to use Anti-Virus scanning in the default Incoming and Outgoing Mail policies? [Y]>
1. McAfee Anti-Virus
2. Sophos Anti-Virus
Enter the number of the Anti-Virus engine you would like to use on the default Incoming and Outgoing Mail policies.
[]> 2
Sophos selected for DEFAULT policy
Do you want to use Anti-Malware scanning in the default Incoming Mail policies? [Y]>
Advanced Malware Protection selected for DEFAULT policy
Do you want to enable Outbreak Filters? [Y]>
Outbreak Filters enabled.
Allow the sharing of limited data with SenderBase? [Y]>
You have successfully configured Outbreak Filters and SenderBase.
</setup>
Usually, it is just simpler if you are re-IPing the ESA from a temporary IP to permanent IP to just change the information associated via ifconfig and modify the interface as needed, or on the GUI use Network > IP Interfaces.
-Robert

XI, PI, ESA, ESR

Hello Everyone,
I have been working with XI and now started looking to upgrade XI to PI and calculating ROA, etc...
As I am going to several docs, basically there is no change between XI and PI if we install latest service packs. Am I right?
Is ESR part of XI or NW04S?
Is there any step by step example building an interface with ESA architecture using ESR?
I would like to understand the architecture and development procedure to implement ESA using ESR and XI.
Any help is greatly appreciated. thanks..Hari Potti

Hi,
>>>>As I am going to several docs, basically there is no change between XI and PI if we install latest service packs. Am I right?
you're right
>>>is ESR part of XI or NW04S?
no it's not
>>>Is there any step by step example building an interface with ESA architecture using ESR?
it should be a part of a new XI release
Regards,
michal
<a href="/people/michal.krawczyk2/blog/2005/06/28/xipi-faq-frequently-asked-questions">XI / PI FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions</a>

ESA in A2A interfaceing

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