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Background documentationVirtual Hosts: Application Example Locate this document in the navigation structure

 

Caution Caution

This example’s use of different virtual hosts to separate access from the Intranet and access from the Internet only refers to formal technical aspects. To secure your system adequately against unauthorized external access (from the Internet), we strongly recommend that you configure an appropriate separate firewall.

End of the caution.

Example Example

A company called ACME has a host computer. The host has two network cards and two IP addresses. 1.2.3.4 and 1.2.5.6.

The address 1.2.3.4 connects the host to the ACME intranet, while the address 1.2.5.6 connects the host to the Internet.

These IP addresses are assigned to the host names shown in the table below.

End of the example.

IP Address

Host Name

1.2.3.4

myhost.acme.com

intranet.acme.com

mailhost.acme.com

1.2.5.6

acmegate.acme.com

acmenet.acme.com

If more than one host name is assigned to one IP addess, one host name is the default name, and the others are aliases. In the table, the default name is in bold type.

Now, a virtual host can be set up in transaction SICF for each of the two addresses. Each virtual host has its own HTTP service tree.

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text.

For example, you can assign requests coming from the Internet (which arrive via the host name acmenet.acme.com) to the default host, and set up a virtual host, internet_host, which contains the services for these Internet requests.

In this example, both servers provide the service sap/bc/ping. If the same HTTP request handler, or an alias, is being used, this can be the same service for both servers. Different services, with different authorizations, access restrictions, and so on, can also exist under the same name (see Creating a Service).

Virtual hosts therefore make it possible to separate the available services at higher levels.

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