Usage of Saprouter

What is the purpose of saprouter?

The SAP Router is a software provided by SAP. 

Why we use it?

The use of the same is to allow and open remote connection for sap to access your system to help you to resolve some issue.

Example:

SAPserverA<--SAProuterA<-(VPNgatewayA)<--Internet<- -(VPNgatewayB)<-SAProuterB<--SAPGUI_A

When SAPGUI_A and SAPserverA are on the same LAN, you don't need SAProuter or the SAProuter string set in SAP GUI.

If SAP GUI is connecting across a WAN connection or across the internet then you will have one SAProuter process running on each side of that connection.

WAN connections don't "need" it but might use it depending on the scenario.

The SAProuter string that you can configure in SAP GUI, is to tell the client-side SAProuter process (SAProuterB in the example above) to route the connection to another SAProuter process which is running on the server-side (SAProuterA in the example above).

If the client can 'ping' the SAP server (without SAProuter processes running), then you don't really need to use this.

When SAPGUI_A & SAPserverA each have private IP addresses (i.e. not PUBLIC IP addresses), and are also on different LANs, then there is no direct way for these 2 to connect via IP. Traffic to/from private IPs cannot be routed publically (via internet). So to resolve this scenario, use WAN or VPN (internet) links to connect LANs with the client-side (SAP GUI) to LANs with the server-side. The 2 SAProuter processes can exchange data over the VPN tunnel (on the internet).

You can run SAProuter and allow SAP GUI connections over the internet without using a VPN tunnel, but someone will figure a way to hijack the connection. The VPN secures the connection. Always think about using VPN if connecting over the internet, unless maybe you don't care if someone damages or deletes that SAP system (maybe it's a sandbox system, in a DMZ). 

Our VPN for SAP systems uses 1024 bit encryption.

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