Difference between System Copy and System Refresh

[Former Member]

Hi Experts!!!!

Kindly can some one let me know what is the difference between a system copy and system refresh with some example if possible. Also, let me know if the method used for doing system copy and system refresh same or different.

TIA

Regards,

Sharath

[Former Member]

System Copy:

Build a SAP system similar to Production data

1) Homogeneous system copy: source and target system using the same operating system and database system  (using database backup/restore)

2) Heterogeneous system copy/migration: source and target system using different operating system or database system (using SAP specific tools*).

Additional info: http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-8324

System Refresh:

Refresh existing system data with production data (target system is online)

1) Database Specific method (database backup/restore)

2) SAP specific method*

*SAP specific tools/method: R3load (for ABAP) and Jload (for JAVA)