Technical Architecture Guide for an Enterprise Deployment of the Winshuttle Platform

The Winshuttle Platform is a collection of client and server components that helps customers maximize the potential of their SAP investment by simplifying and streamlining common SAP business processes. With the addition of the Winshuttle Designer authoring tool and Winshuttle Workflow application engine, Winshuttle now offers a complete environment for building and deploying custom solutions that automate SAP business processes, from data collection to workflow routing and approval to transaction execution. This paper provides an overview of the architecture of the Winshuttle Platform, including: System Requirements and Licensing SAP Integration SharePoint Dependencies Security and Authentication Load Balancing, Backup, and Disaster Recovery The information presented herein is intended to assist IT managers and administrators with evaluating the Winshuttle Platform for deployment in their organizations.

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www.winshuttle.com

Platform Overview
The Winshuttle Platform is composed of seven products that run on Microsoft client and server software and integrate with SAP. The four client components collectively make up the Winshuttle Studio (Table 1) and are used to create forms, templates and web services for composing SAP business process automation solutions. Table 1: Winshuttle Studio Product Winshuttle Transaction Winshuttle Query Winshuttle Direct Winshuttle Designer Functionality Codeless development of templates and web services that perform SAP transactions and data operations. Codeless development of forms and workflows

The three server components (Table 2) provide the run time environment for solutions built using Winshuttle Studio as well as control and governance functions for the Platform as a whole.

Table 2: Winshuttle Platform Server Components Product Winshuttle Workflow Winshuttle Server Winshuttle Central Functionality Workflow execution and form rendering Web service execution and SAP integration Web service directory, governance, and control

Winshuttle Server contains two services: Transaction Services and Query Services. Transaction Services exposes scripts written with Winshuttle Transaction as web services and processes Transaction runs immediately or on a schedule. Query Services exposes Winshuttle Query scripts as web services and runs immediate or scheduled Query extracts. Design -Time Architecture During design-time (Figure 1), solution builders use Winshuttle Transaction, Query, or Direct to create scripts that perform SAP transactions and publish these scripts as web services to Winshuttle Server. They then use Designer to build forms that consume those web services, model workflows to route those forms, and publish the completed solution to Microsoft SharePoint. Interaction between Winshuttle Studio and the Winshuttle server components occurs via the SOAP protocol, as does interaction among the server components. Any interaction between Winshuttle components and SAP is done via Remote Function Call (RFC), the same interface used by the SAP GUI.

Technical Architecture Guide - Winshuttle Platform

Publish web services Governance (logging, licensing, etc.) [SOAP] [SOAP]

Windows XP/7

SharePoint 2007/2010

WORKFLOW

Record transactions and create queries [RFC]

Publish web services Governance (logging, licensing, etc.) [SOAP]

Windows Server 2003/2008

SAP
Figure 1: Winshuttle design-time architecture

Runtime Architecture At runtime (Figure2), users access SharePoint hosted web forms built with Winshuttle Designer using Microsoft Internet Explorer. Winshuttle Workflow executes the workflow logic and Winshuttle Server executes the web services that perform operations against SAP. Interaction between Internet Explorer and the Winshuttle server components occurs via HTTP and interaction among the server components is via SOAP. Any interaction between Winshuttle components and SAP is done via Remote Function Call (RFC).

Internet Explorer
Access web forms [HTTP]

Windows XP/7

SharePoint 2007/2010

WORKFLOW
Execute web services [SOAP]

Governance (logging, licensing, etc.) [SOAP]

Windows Server 2003/2008

Execute SAP transactions and table queries [RFC]

SAP
Figure 2: Winshuttle runtime architecture

Technical Architecture Guide - Winshuttle Platform

System Requirements and Licensing

Winshuttle Studio runs on Microsoft Windows clients. In addition, Winshuttle Designer requires Microsoft InfoPath for building forms. The full system requirements for Winshuttle Studio are listed in Table 3. Table 3: Winshuttle Studio System Requirements
Component Desktop Software Operating System .NET Framework Microsoft Excel or Access (Transaction and Query only) Microsoft InfoPath (Designer only) Internet Explorer SAP Basis SAP GUI RFC Authorizations Desktop Hardware Memory Storage 512 MB 250 MB of free space Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7 (32/64-bit) 3.5 SP1 or higher Office 2000 or higher (including 2010 64-bit) 2007/2010 (32-bit only) 6.0 or higher 4.6C or higher 6.40 or higher See required SAP authorizations Minimum Requirement

To run solutions built with Winshuttle Studio, clients only need Internet Explorer, along with the operating system and .NET Framework requirements listed in Table 3. The Winshuttle Platform server components run on the Microsoft Windows server stack. Winshuttle Central and Winshuttle Workflow are Microsoft SharePoint applications. The full system requirements for the Winshuttle server components are list in Table 4. Table 4: Winshuttle Platform Server Components System Requirements
Component Server Software Operating System .NET Framework Microsoft SharePoint Minimum Requirement Central Workflow Server

Windows Server 2003 R2 (32-bit/64-bit) Windows Server 2008 R2 (32-bit/64-bit)

3.5 SP1 or higher SharePoint 2007 (all editions, including WSS) SharePoint 2010 (all editions, including Foundation) MS SQL Server 2005 (any edition, including Express) MS SQL Server 2008 (any edition, including Express) None Single, 2.5 GHz 8 GB 3 GB of free space 56 Kbps between clients and server N/A N/A N/A RFC calls require ports 33xx to be open 7.0 or higher N/A N/A

Database

N/A

SAP GUI Server Hardware Processor Memory Storage Network Network Ports Desktop Software Internet Explorer

7.10 Patch 11

6.0 or higher

Technical Architecture Guide - Winshuttle Platform

Licensing All Microsoft and Winshuttle licensing requirements are based on the version of the software deployed. Winshuttle Workflow and Server can run on SharePoint 2007 WSS or SharePoint 2010 Foundation, so no SharePoint CALs are required for either design-time or run time deployment. SAP Integration The Winshuttle Platform has a light footprint on the SAP environment. The Query Services component of Winshuttle Server requires a module to be installed on the SAP system. Neither Transaction Services nor any other Winshuttle functionality requires installation of additional software on the SAP instance. SharePoint Dependencies Both Winshuttle Central and Winshuttle Workflow are built on SharePoint and are deployed via SharePoints solution deployment framework (.wsp deployment). However, Winshuttle uses proprietary technology in place of native features of SharePoint when doing so improves performance or simplifies the user experience: Forms and templates connect to SAP directly via Winshuttle web services. Data is not passed through SharePoint Business Connectivity Services (BCS). The Winshuttle Workflow engine is Winshuttle technology and is not based on Windows Workflow Foundation (WF). Forms rendering is Winshuttle technology and is not based on InfoPath Forms Services. Security and Authentication Winshuttle uses Windows Integrated Security to provide authentication between the user and the server components of the Winshuttle Platform (i.e. Winshuttle Workflow, Server, and Central). SAP native security is used for interaction between the user and the SAP system. There are four ways to configure authentication to SAP and the user experience and deployment procedure will vary depending on which is chosen. User enters SAP Credentials. When the user executes an SAP transaction via a Winshuttle web service, Winshuttle Server prompts for the users SAP username and password and then creates an RFC connection to SAP using that users SAP credentials (Figure 3).

Logon

SAP username/password

RFC using current user

SAP

Figure 3: User enters SAP credentials

Technical Architecture Guide - Winshuttle Platform

Users SAP credentials are stored on Winshuttle Central. Users Windows Integrated Security credentials are mapped to their SAP credentials and the mapping is stored in Winshuttle Central. When a user executes an SAP transaction via a Winshuttle web service, Winshuttle Server retrieves that users SAP credentials from Central and creates an RFC connection to SAP (Figure 4).

Winshuttle Central stores SAP credentials mapped to users

SAP credientials for current user retrieved from Winshuttle Central Windows Integrated Security RFC using current user

Logon

SAP

Figure 4: SAP credentials stored on Winshuttle Central

User connects to SAP using a shared service account. SAP credentials for a Shared Service Account are stored on Winshuttle Central. When a user executes an SAP transaction via a Winshuttle web service, Winshuttle Server retrieves the system account credentials and creates an RFC connection to SAP (Figure 5).

Winshuttle Central stores SAP credentials for system account

SAP credientials for system account retrieved from Winshuttle Central Windows Integrated Security RFC using system account

Logon

SAP

or other applications consuming Winshuttle Web Services for SAP

Figure 5: Shared system account

Technical Architecture Guide - Winshuttle Platform

User logs on using an SAP Logon Ticket. When the user executes an SAP transaction via a Winshuttle web service, Winshuttle Server prompts for the users Windows Integrated Security username and password. Winshuttle Server passes these credentials to a ticketing issuing system and receives an SAP logon ticket, which is used to create an RFC connection to SAP (Figure 6).
SAP NetWeaver AS

Logon

Windows username/password

P SA

go Lo

et ck Ti

ue iss

RFC using SAP Logon Ticket

SAP

or other applications consuming Winshuttle Web Services for SAP

Figure 6: SAP logon ticket It is important to note that only users who execute transactions or otherwise interact with SAP need a mechanism for logging onto the SAP system. In a workflow solution, for example, some participants in the process may perform steps that do not require access to SAP; these users will only need their Windows Integrated Security logon to access the form and perform their part of the process.

Load Balancing, Backup, and Recovery

Winshuttle Central and Winshuttle Workflow are Microsoft SharePoint applications, supported by the loadbalancing, backup, and disaster-recovery features of that platform. Winshuttle Server runs on Windows Internet Information Service (IIS) and is similarly supported by that platforms features and functionality. Load Balancing Winshuttle Central and Workflow are fully supported in a load-balanced SharePoint environment with multiple web front-ends. Both components are deployed as standard SharePoint Solution Packages (.wsp) and the SharePoint infrastructure automatically manages the deployment of the solution to all web frontends in the server farm. Winshuttle Server is architected to take advantage of load balancing features in Windows Server. Backup and Disaster Recovery Backup and restore of Winshuttle Central, Workflow, and Server can be handled by Microsofts recommended tools and procedures for administrating SharePoint, IIS and SQL Server.

Additional Resources
For more information see the Products or Support & Training sections at www.winshuttle.com or contact a pre-sales engineer at info@winshuttle.com.

Technical Architecture Guide - Winshuttle Platform

Winshuttle provides software products that improve how business users work with SAP. For customers who struggle with rigid, expensive and inefficient processes that limit their ability to adapt to changing business conditions, Winshuttle has the solution. The Winshuttle Platform enables customers to build and adapt Excel and SharePoint-based interactive forms and workflows for SAP without programming. Thousands of Winshuttle customers have radically accelerated SAP processes, saving and redirecting millions of dollars every day. Winshuttle supports customers worldwide from offices in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India.

Corporate Headquarters
Bothell, WA Tel + 1 (800) 711-9798 Fax + 1 (425) 527-6666 www.winshuttle.com

United Kingdom

London, U.K. Tel +44 (0) 208 704 4170 Fax +44 (0) 208 711 2665 www.winshuttle.co.uk

Germany

Bremerhaven, Germany Tel +49 (0) 471 140840 Fax +49 (0)471 140849 www.winshuttle-software.de

France

Maisons-Alfort, France Tel +33 (0) 148 937 171 Fax +33 (0) 143 683 768 www.winshuttle.fr

India

Research & Development Chandigarh, India Tel +91 (0) 172 663 9800

Technical Architecture Guide - Winshuttle Platform