SAP Landscapes

Landscapes like a server system or like a layout of the servers or some may even call it the architecture of the servers viz. SAP is divided into 3 landscape DEV, QAS and PROD.

-  DEV would have multiple clients for ex: 190- Sandbox, 100- Golden, 180- Unit Test.
-  QAS may again have multiple clients for ex: 300- Integration Test, 700 to 710 Training.
-  PROD may have something like a 200 Production.

These names and numbers are the implementer's discreet on how they want it or they have been using in their previous implementations or how is the client's business scenario. 

Now whatever you do in the Sandbox doesn't affect the other servers or clients. Whenever you think you are satisfied with your configuration and you think you can use it moving forward, you RE-DO it in the golden client (remember, this is a very neat and clean client and you cannot use it for rough usage). As you re-do everything that you had thought was important and usable, you get a transport request pop up upon saving every time. You save it under a transport request and give your description to it. Thus the configuration is transported to the Unit Test client (180 in this example). 

You don't run any transaction or even use the SAP Easy Access screen on the 100 (golden) client. This is a configuration only client. Now upon a successful tranport by the Basis guy, you have all the configuration in the Testing client, just as it is in the Golden client. The configuration remains in sync between these two clients. 

But in the Testing client you can not even access SPRO  (Display IMG) screen. It's a transaction only client where you perform the unit test. Upon a satisfactory unit test, you move the good configuration to the next SERVER (DEV). The incorrect or unsatisfactory configuration is corrected in Golden (may again as well be practiced in the sandbox prior to Golden) and accordingly transported back to 180 (Unit Test) until the unit test affected by that particular config is satisfactory. 

The Golden client remains the 'database' (if you wanna call it that) or you may rather call it the 'ultimate' reference client for all the good, complete and final configuration that is being used in the implementation.

Introduction to SAP