With Kpro, the opportunity exists to manage electronic documents of different formats within a content repository, using the content server functionality. After installing and configuring content server, you can add repositories that optionally use different data storage facilities. With no option specified, dcouments will be stored into the SAP database itself, filling one content table. With large document sets, this will soon drag down the performance of your database.
Alternatively, you can configure the content server to store its repository (document) data into MaxDB. All SAP documentation regarding content server seems to be geared towards this type of storage implementation. However, some clients don't want to create knowledge or procedures on maintaining a MaxDB database. The content server configuration documentation, however, is vague about alternatives.
Next best seems to be using file system storage as an option. This could be very desirable, as it is more easy to back up and secure individual files than a database. Most of third-party ECM/DM systems have this strategy. Also, performance for storage and retrieval is a lot better over HTTP, which is the protocol used by content server. However, SAP configuration docs are not clear about implementing file storage. Best guess is to specify using FileSystemStorage.dll instead of ContentStorage.dll as the data source script driver. However, default script driver after installation is called ContentServer.dll. ContentStorage.dll or FileSystemStorage.dll nowhere to be found in the installation directory for content server. Is the feature documented but never implemented in content server (now version 6.40) ?
Alternatively again, there are vague hints that different data storage sources can be implemented using vanilla ODBC drivers . At least the data integration architecture suggests ODBC as a management layer. Personally I would like to hook up a separate instance of MS SQL server 2005 as an alternative to MaxDB or the main SAP database.
Anyone who could shed some more light on this despite lacking the official documentation?