The SAP Web Application Server is a further development of the SAP Application Server technology. Based on the highly scalable SAP Application Server infrastructure, new technologies have been implemented to directly process HTTP requests or other protocols coming from the Internet, and to send HTTP requests to the Internet.
To allow this additional function of processing and sending HTTP requests, the SAP kernel has an additional process, the ICM, which uses threads to communicate on the Internet, as a server or as a client. As a result, your users can access the SAP applications using their Web browser and the HTTP directly, instead of having to access them using a middleware component. However, in this case, the applications must be designed and written for the Internet scenario. Traditional applications can still be accessed using the SAP GUI for Windows, or even the SAP GUI for HTML through an SAP ITS. HTTPS is also supported by using these applications.
The Internet Communication Framework (ICF) provides the framework for implementing the SAP Web AS applications. The ICF consists of the interfaces that enable the SAP Web AS function as a Web server or a Web client.
