Need clarification for these names, R/3, WAS, NetWeaver

[Former Member]

Hi All

It's my first time posting question here, though I have used/developmented on SAP systems for 2+ yrs. The question may sound silly, but it indeed confused me a lot.

Thanks in abvance for any response for it.

From what I knew, the SAP backend system was once called R/3, or R/3 Enterprise. So we have SAP 4.6C R/3, SAP4.7 R/3. Then later it came WAS, such as WAS 6.20, WAS 6.30. Then the NetWeaver came, such as NW04, NW04s.

For these versions, the upgrade path is as folloing:

R/3 4.6C-->4.7

WAS 6.20>6.30>6.40

NW 2004-->2004s.

Is it true that R/3 4.7 is the same as WAS 6.20, and WAS 6.40 is the same as NW04?

Thanks again for any input

Xueqing

[former_member181887 · Accepted solution]

Hi Xueqing,

First of all, sorry for any confusion that we have caused you. I hope I can give you an answer that will clear up the confusion. Sorry, but it is a long explanation of the development of two application solution but history tends to be very long winded!

It is <b>not</b> true SAP R/3 Enterprise equals SAP Web AS, and I'll hopefully explain why:

In the beginning (at least in the client server world) SAP only ship SAP R/3. The technology layer under SAP R/3 was called SAP Basis. There was only SAP Basis under SAP R/3.

SAP then started to deliver other software solutions that were not included in or built on the SAP R/3 software. These included SAP Business Information Warehouse, SAP APO, SAP SEM, SAP CRM, and the list goes on.

These solutions needed to run on technology layer (like SAP R/3 did). SAP Basis was the obvious choice for this because of the common technology layer providing DB/OS abstraction and a coding environment.

<b>~2001:</b>

Later there came the need to have SAP Basis support the web and its web standards and other programming languages. This radically changed what SAP Basis was and we decided to rename the new technology layer to SAP Web Application Server (SAP Web AS). So the SAP Basis name was retired and SAP Basis 4.6D was the last release called SAP Basis.

The new release and the "technology change" means that all the applications mentioned above now ran on SAP Web AS. The first release of SAP Web AS was 6.10.

<b>~2002:</b>

SAP Web AS was first used in SAP R/3 Enterprise release .

The important fact is that SAP R/3 Enterprise runs on SAP Web AS. SAP R/3 Enterprise = SAP R/3 business applications + new business functions + SAP Web AS.

<b>~2003:</b>

I hope the above explanation is clear, because technology takes another major change. It was realized that SAP now had a collection of business solutions/applications (SAP R/3, mySAP CRM, mySAP SCM, etc) and a collection of technology solutions (SAP Web AS, SAP BW, SAP EP, etc). The technology requirements for the business solutions did not end at SAP Web AS, they needed portal, data warehouse, knowledge management capabilities, etc to develop business solutions on.

To address this SAP made the decision to combine all the technology solutions and tools into one single platform. This made complete sense for developers (SAP, Partners and customers). This single platform is called SAP NetWeaver. It includes all the old individual components of SAP Web AS, SAP BW, SAP KM, SAP EP, etc).

<b>~2004:</b>

I think you can guess what the next step is. Yes, the new release of SAP R/3. Since the release of SAP R/3 Enterprise and the release of SAP NetWeaver, SAP R/3's name changes. It is now called mySAP ERP as it includes a lot of applications that were previously sold separately (like SAP SEM, MSS, ESS, etc).

So now mySAP ERP runs on SAP NetWeaver (yes everything that was in SAP Basis and then in SAP Web AS is still there but SAP NetWeaver has so much more now).

Also with the release of SAP NetWeaver, SAP starts to stop using the old technology component names - you will not hear us talk about SAP Web AS, SAP BW, etc anymore, just SAP NetWeaver releases.

In addition all the other SAP business applications also run on SAP NetWeaver, so the latest version of mySAP CRM, mySAP SRM, and mySAP SCM all run on SAP NetWeaver.

So to simplify the explanation, it would be :

<b>Evolution of SAP R/3:</b>

SAP R/3 (up to release 4.6c) -> SAP R/3 Enterprise (releases 1.00 through 2.00 -> mySAP ERP (2004 onward)

<b>Evolution of Basis:</b>

SAP Basis (up to release 4.6d) -> SAP Web AS (up to release 6.40 which was included in SAP NetWeaver '04) -> SAP NetWeaver (2004 onward)

SAP NetWeaver and mySAP ERP have <u>their own release cycles</u>. mySAP ERP always has an underlying technology release that it is built on (this is a SAP NetWeaver release)

I hope this helps,

Mike.

<b></b>

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Mike

Thanks a lot for your explanation.

I am also looking forward to reading your blog on this topic to further digest the info.

I appreciate your time and help

Cheers

Xueqing

[RichHeilman]

Ok, here goes. R/3 is the core business system. WAS is the platform in which R/3 runs. Netweaver is a brand name which includes WAS, R/3(Renamed to ECC in myERP 2004)

That said, as you upgrade your business system(ERP) you will be upgrading the WAS as well, and hence be running on Netweaver version as well.

For Example....

If you are running 46c

Basis 46c

SAP R/3 46c

If you are running 4.7

WAS 6.20

SAP R/3 Enterprise

If you are running 5.0

WAS 6.40

ECC 5.0

These are apart of Netweaver 2004

The newest version

WAS 7.0

ECC 5.0(I think, could be 6.0)

These are apart of Netweaver 2004s

There are more components which make up the entire Netweaver Package.

Make sense?

Welcome to SDN!!. Please remember to award points for helpful answers. THanks.

Regards,

RIch Heilman

[Former Member]

> Make sense?

Hmm, for me? not really.

From "Master Guide SAP Netweaver 04", "SAP web AS Components" was listed in the Component matrix. Does that mean WAS is just part of the Netweaver? since I also saw other components, such as SAP XI Components and SAP EP components, and so on.

What also confused was that when I went to the software download site, SAP R/3 Enterprise 47 X200 -> Oracle -> Windows Server on IA32 32 bit, it gave a list that contained SAP R3E 47X200 SR1, NW04SR1 xxxx, CD6.40 Kernel xxx, if they are not the same, why put them under the same roof?

I am now trying to install a 6.40 system for cFolders. I don't know I should call it WAS6.40, or NW04. I will post another question about the problem I encounted.

Thanks again for your response.

Regards

Xueqing

[RichHeilman]

Yes, that's correct. WAS is a part of netweaver, again Netweaver is just the name of the package. The package that includes the business suite, EP, WAS, XI, etc.

<i>

What also confused was that when I went to the software download site, SAP R/3 Enterprise 47 X200 -> Oracle -> Windows Server on IA32 32 bit, it gave a list that contained SAP R3E 47X200 SR1, NW04SR1 xxxx, CD6.40 Kernel xxx, if they are not the same, why put them under the same roof?

</i>

Not really sure what to say about that. 4.7 runs on the 6.20 engine. I have not heard of someone running 4.7 on WAS 6.40. I guess it may be possible.

I would try to stay away from calling your WAS 6.40 box as "Netweaver". Again, Netweaver covers the entire package. You are just working with a WebAS or WAS 6.40

Regards,

Rich Heilman

[Former Member]

Hi Rich

Thanks a lot for your clearification.

It really helped me.

Regards

Xueqing

[former_member181887]

Hi Rich,

Just a small clarification on your great answer.

With SAP NetWeaver 2004s we are phasing the old component names. You will no longer see the only SAP Web AS, SAP BI, SAP XI, SAP EP, etc - just SAP NetWeaver. In order to distribute functionality across systems, we have a new concept called 'usage types' which will make planning and management easier.

It will be quite a big change for a lot of experienced systems people, but it makes sense as the new functional really blurs the lines between the only components and it is truly integrated.

I think I need to write a blog on this one to introduce the concept and how it relates to administrators who know to old component view.

Cheers,

Mike.

[RichHeilman]

Great Answer Mike. It helped me understand a little better. Thanks for that.

<i>I think <b>I need to write a blog</b> on this one to introduce the concept and how it relates to administrators who know to old component view.</i>

While reading your answer, I was thinking the same thing, ....."This guy should write a weblog on this".

Again, thanks for the input.

Regards,

Rich HEilman