Pros & Cons of using Stand-alone SLT vs Embedded SLT

[Mainak_Chakraborty]

Hi,

Can you please tell us the different pros & cons between using Stand-alone SLT & Embedded SLT in terms of SAP S/4 Hana , SAP ECC, SAP R3 as source. 

Please let us know. If there is any relevant SAP notes it'll be helpful.

Thanks & Regards,

Mainak Chakraborty

[Andrey_M]

It's no about versions. The functionality of Standalone and Embedded is the same.
It's only about compatibility:  Embedded already part of S/4 HANA system and you don't need to install anything else (except fixes), Standalone - it's SLT ADDON that could be installed on top of ECC system, where embedded version is not supplied.

[AmelieW]

2.3 Location of the SAP LT Replication Server System
Before beginning the installation, it is important to understand the various system landscape options:

• We recommend installing SAP LT Replication Server as a separate system.
• For ABAP-based SAP source systems, SAP LT Replication Server can also be used within the source system.
• For ABAP-based SAP target systems (for example a Central Finance system), SAP LT Replication Server can also be used within the target system.

Installing the SAP LT Replication Server as a separate system is recommended for the following reasons:

• It allows a clear separation of concerns - the SAP Landscape Transformation Replication Server system will only replicate data and all system resources are dedicated to this.
• It allows a different set of users to be the single users to have access to the system (security aspects).
• It allows independent planning of upgrade cycles or other maintenance activities on the SAP Landscape Transformation Replication Server system. For example, this will avoid downtime in the Central Finance system if any maintenance activities need to be done in the SAP LT Replication Server system.
• It supports the independent sizing of servers and allows you to manage performance efficiently.
• It helps to keep an overview of the system landscape if multiple source systems are connected to one or more target systems.

Installing (and using) the SAP LT Replication Server in the source or target system is only recommended:

• If there are so few replication use cases, that an additional system is too expensive (for example if you replicate data from
  one source system to SAP Central Finance and there are no plans to expand the scope of the scenario). 

You can find more details via the below link to SLT Installation Guide. 

[ian_kirkman]

Hi Mainak,

There are limitations of the S/4 HANA embedded version of SLT (see KBA 2580573). This said there are two main differences between embedded and standalone SLT:

1. When using a database connection to a source or target, SLT on S/4 HANA (S4CORE or DMIS 2020 on S/4 HANA foundation) can only use a database connection to a HANA database. Standalone SLT (DMIS 2011 or DMIS 2018) can replicate from and to third party databases listed in SAP Note 1768805. 
2. Standalone SLT has a lower NetWeaver version than embedded SLT, so can have problems with unsupported data types (see KBA 2985946). Standalone SLT therefore needs to apply a workaround in such cases.

Regards,
Ian
SAP Support

[Andrey_M]

Hi, 

there're almost no difference. Embedded SLT works only with HANA S/4 or HANA DB. Standalone SLT (AddOn) supports all other DB types supported by ABAP.