Difference between System Copy and System Refresh

SYSTEM COPY:

To build a new SAP system (demo/test/training purpose) similar to Production system data. System copy can be of 2 types.

There won’t be any changes made in source system.

[1] Homogeneous system copy:

If the source and target systems are running on the same operating system (OS) and database (DB)

[2] Heterogeneous system copy:

If the source and target systems are running on the different operating system (OS) and database (DB)

SYSTEM REFRESH:

Update the existing system data with production data (The target system should be up and running)

Create new test/demo systems                Update existing system with latest data