Skip to main content

SAP BTP Destinations

What is a Destination in the SAP BTP?

In the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), a destination is a configuration setting that defines the connection details for a remote system or service. It provides the necessary information for applications deployed on the SAP BTP to access external systems or services, such as an on-premise SAP system or a cloud-based service.

A destination typically includes the following information:

  • Target URL: The URL of the remote system or service that the application needs to access.
  • Authentication settings: The user credentials or authentication token required to authenticate the application with the remote system or service.
  • Proxy settings: The proxy server details, if the remote system or service is behind a proxy server.
  • Other connection parameters: Any other configuration settings required to establish the connection with the remote system or service.

Destinations can be created and managed in the SAP BTP cockpit, which is the central management console for the SAP BTP. Applications deployed on the SAP BTP can then access the destinations through APIs or libraries, which provide a simplified way of accessing external systems and services without requiring developers to handle the low-level details of the connection.

Destinations can be used in a wide range of scenarios, such as integrating on-premise SAP systems with cloud-based services, accessing data from external databases or APIs, or connecting to third-party systems or services. They provide a secure and flexible way of connecting to external systems and services, while also providing centralized management and monitoring capabilities.

What are the advantages of Destinations?

Advantages of Destinations in the SAP BTP include:

  1. Centralized connection management: Destinations store connection information to external systems or services in a central location, making it easier to manage and maintain (blogs.sap.com). This centralization simplifies the process of updating connection details, as changes made to a destination are automatically propagated to all applications using it.
  2. Security and authentication: Destinations handle authentication methods and credentials, ensuring that connections to external systems are secure and authorized (blogs.sap.com). By storing credentials securely within the destination, you can reduce the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data.
  3. Reusability and consistency: Destinations can be shared across multiple applications, promoting reusability and consistency of connection configurations (help.sap.com). This reduces the need to duplicate connection details in multiple places, minimizing the risk of errors and inconsistencies.
  4. Flexibility: Destinations can be created at both the subaccount and application levels, providing flexibility in managing access to external systems (help.sap.com). This allows you to control which applications have access to specific external systems, and simplifies the process of granting or revoking access when needed.
  5. Integration with SAP Cloud Connector: Destinations can be used in conjunction with the SAP Cloud Connector to securely connect cloud applications to on-premise systems (blogs.sap.com). This enables you to leverage the full potential of the SAP BTP in hybrid scenarios, where cloud applications must interact with both cloud services and on-premise systems.

Overall, Destinations in the SAP BTP provide a convenient, secure, and flexible way to manage connections to external systems, simplifying the integration and development processes for cloud applications.

What is the difference between a destination and the Cloud Connector?

The SAP Cloud Connector and a destination are both used in the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) to enable connectivity between on-premise systems and cloud-based services. However, they serve different purposes and work at different levels of the connectivity stack.

The SAP Cloud Connector is a software component that runs on a customer's on-premise system and provides secure communication between the on-premise system and the SAP BTP. It establishes a secure tunnel between the on-premise system and the SAP BTP, allowing applications running on the SAP BTP to access on-premise resources through the tunnel.

On the other hand, a destination is a configuration setting that defines the connection details for a remote system or service. It is used to enable applications running on the SAP BTP to access external systems or services, such as an on-premise SAP system or a cloud-based service.

In other words, the SAP Cloud Connector enables connectivity between the on-premise system and the SAP BTP, while a destination enables connectivity between the SAP BTP and external systems or services. The SAP Cloud Connector is used to establish a secure communication channel, while destinations are used to specify the details of the connection to the target system or service.

In summary, the SAP Cloud Connector and destinations are complementary components that work together to enable secure and flexible connectivity between on-premise systems and cloud-based services in the SAP BTP.

What is the difference between the services "destination" and "connectivity" in the SAP BTP?

In the SAP BTP Cloud Foundry environment, the Connectivity service and the Destination service work together to enable secure communication between your applications and external systems or services. They provide similar functionality as the Connectivity service of the Neo environment, but the functionality is split into two separate services.

The Connectivity service provides a connectivity proxy that you can use to access on-premise resources (answers.sap.com). It enables communication between your cloud applications and on-premise systems through the Cloud Connector (learning.sap.com). The Connectivity service is responsible for handling the actual connection and data transmission between the cloud and on-premise environments.

On the other hand, the Destination service is responsible for retrieving and storing the technical information about the target resource (destination) that you need to connect your application to a remote service or system (answers.sap.com). It acts as a storage place for destination info, such as URL, protocol, and credentials (blogs.sap.com).

In summary, the Destination service stores the connection information, while the Connectivity service handles the actual connection and data transmission between your cloud applications and external resources, especially on-premise systems. Both services are required to use the Cloud Connector and securely connect your applications to external resources (answers.sap.com).