Best Practices for SAP BI using DB2 9 for z/OS - IBM Redbooks

12.3 Dataflow in SAP BI
Data flow is depicted at a very high level in Figure 12-1 on page 258 for an
overall understanding. Figure 12-2 provides a more complete view of the
possible flow of data in SAP BI. Data is normally loaded into a PSA first, and from
there into DSO and InfoCubes. It is also possible to directly load data into the
DSO and InfoCubes, and from DSO to InfoCube.
Any
Source
Persistent
Staging
Area
(PSA)
Master
data
Figure 12-2 Dataflow in SAP BI
Data can be loaded from various heterogeneous data sources, such as:
► R/3 systems
► Non-R/3 systems
► Flat files
► XML files
► Other databases (via DB Connect)
ETL process
When data is loaded into SAP BI, it is integrated, standardized, synchronized,
and enriched. This is performed through processes known as extraction,
transformation, and loading (ETL).
You have to ensure that the ETL process captures and loads the full range of
required data, while avoiding an overload of irrelevant data. Data is often stored
in different formats, with different data types and different lengths. In addition, a
data type may have the same name but a different meaning in the different
systems where it is used.
260 Best Practices for SAP BI using DB2 9 for z/OS
Operational
Data Store
(ODS)
Infocube
Multi-dimensional
Models
Information
Access