What is the 3-tier architecture in SAP?

SAP's classical system architecture is organized into three distinct layers, each with a specific role, that can even run on separate physical machines: the presentation layer (what the user sees and interacts with), the application layer (where business logic actually executes), and the database layer (where all persistent data is stored).

flowchart LR
    A[Presentation Layer - SAP GUI/Fiori] --> B[Application Layer - business logic, ABAP processing]
    B --> C[Database Layer - persistent data storage]

Separating these layers means each can be scaled independently — adding more application servers to handle more concurrent users, for instance, without needing to change the database layer at all — and it keeps the system's business logic centralized on the application server rather than scattered across individual user machines.

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