Server & Network Administration for SAP Basis Administrators

Syllabus

• Server & Network - Program overview and learning outcomes
  • Role of server and network administration in SAP Basis work
  • Typical SAP landscape components and infrastructure dependencies
  • Shared responsibility: Basis vs. OS vs. network teams
  • Lab environment, access models, and safety practices
  • Course tools: SSH, RDP, ipconfig, ping, tracert, nslookup
• Server & Network - SAP landscape infrastructure context
  • Presentation, application, and database tiers in SAP
  • Central instance, application servers, and database host
  • SAP hostnames, instance numbers, and SID conventions
  • Internal vs. external client access paths
  • High availability and DR - infrastructure view
• Server & Network - Windows Server administration for SAP
  • Login at OS level (Windows Server) for SAP administration
  • Windows services relevant to SAP (overview)
  • Disks, volumes, and pagefile considerations for SAP
  • Windows updates and patching coordination with Basis
  • Event Viewer and basic Windows troubleshooting for SAP hosts
  • Local users, groups, and UAC impact on SAP installs
• Server & Network - Linux administration for SAP
  • Linux distributions used for SAP (RHEL, SUSE) - overview
  • SSH login, sudo, and sapadmin / adm users
  • Filesystem layout, mounts, and sapmnt / oracle or HANA paths
  • systemd services and starting/stopping SAP-related units
  • Package management and kernel/driver coordination
  • Log locations: messages, syslog, SAP trace directories
• Server & Network - Virtualization and compute for SAP
  • Virtual machines vs. bare metal for SAP workloads
  • vCPU, memory, and NUMA awareness (overview)
  • VM snapshots, clones, and Basis change windows
  • Hypervisor networking basics (vSwitch, port groups)
  • Preparing a VM for SAP and database installation (lab context)
• Server & Network - Storage and filesystems
  • SAP directory structure on application servers
  • Database data, log, and backup storage layout
  • NFS, CIFS, and shared storage for SAP (overview)
  • Disk space monitoring and Basis escalation thresholds
  • File permissions and ownership for SAP users
• Server & Network - Networking fundamentals
  • TCP/IP, UDP, and the OSI model (practical subset)
  • IP addresses, subnets, masks, and gateways
  • MAC addresses, ARP, and local segment communication
  • VLANs and network segmentation concepts
  • NAT and SAP landscapes (overview)
• Server & Network - DNS and hostname resolution
  • DNS records (A, PTR, CNAME) for SAP hosts
  • Forward and reverse lookup verification (nslookup, dig)
  • hosts file vs. DNS - when each is used in SAP projects
  • Split-horizon DNS and internal vs. external names
  • Common DNS misconfigurations affecting SAP logon and RFC
• Server & Network - SAP ports, protocols, and connectivity
  • Default SAP port ranges and instance numbers (32xx, 36xx, etc.)
  • Message server, gateway, and ICM ports
  • Database listener ports (HANA, Oracle overview)
  • Testing connectivity with ping, telnet, Test-NetConnection, nc
  • SAProuter and remote support connections (overview)
• Server & Network - Firewalls and network security zones
  • Firewall rule concepts: source, destination, port, action
  • DMZ, application zone, and database zone patterns
  • Windows Defender Firewall and Linux firewalld/iptables (overview)
  • Change process for firewall requests in SAP projects
  • Documenting required flows for a new SAP system
• Server & Network - Load balancing and reverse proxies
  • Load balancer role for SAP HTTP(S) traffic (overview)
  • SAP Web Dispatcher as reverse proxy - placement
  • SSL termination at LB vs. on SAP host
  • Health checks and session persistence (overview)
• Server & Network - SSL/TLS and certificates
  • Public/private keys, CAs, and certificate chains
  • SAP PSE and STRUST - Basis touchpoints
  • Installing and renewing certificates on SAP ICM / Gateway
  • Certificate expiry monitoring and incident prevention
• Server & Network - Secure Network Communication (SNC)
  • Secure Network Communications (SNC) - concepts
  • SNC quality of protection and profile parameters
  • SNC configuration for RFC (overview lab)
  • Troubleshooting SNC and GSS-API errors (overview)
• Server & Network - Remote access and jump hosts
  • SSH key-based authentication and hardening basics
  • RDP best practices for SAP Windows hosts
  • Jump hosts / bastion architecture for SAP landscapes
  • Session recording and access audit (overview)
• Server & Network - Time synchronization and clustering
  • Why time sync matters for SAP, DB, and cluster nodes
  • NTP on Windows and chrony on Linux (verification)
  • Cluster time skew symptoms in SAP HA environments
  • Coordinating time changes during maintenance
• Server & Network - Monitoring and performance at OS/network layer
  • CPU, memory, and I/O monitoring on Windows and Linux
  • Network utilization and error counters
  • Correlating OS metrics with SAP SM50 / ST06 (overview)
  • Baseline documentation for SAP host performance
• Server & Network - Troubleshooting connectivity for Basis
  • Layered troubleshooting: client -> network -> OS -> SAP -> DB
  • Diagnosing SAP GUI logon failures (network angle)
  • RFC and SM59 connection failures - network checks
  • Packet capture concepts (when to escalate to network team)
  • Runbook template for connectivity incidents
• Server & Network - Hands-on labs and assessment
  • Lab: Verify IP, gateway, DNS, and SAP port reachability
  • Lab: Document firewall rules for a three-tier SAP landscape
  • Lab: STRUST / certificate import walkthrough
  • Lab: SSH hardening and sudo check on Linux SAP host
  • Knowledge check: ports, DNS, zones, and escalation paths
  • Capstone: infrastructure readiness checklist for new SAP system