Exploring a Server

This guide walks you through viewing a server in the CMDB, including its hardware details, installed applications, network connections, and AI-enriched relationships.

Filtering to Servers

1. Navigate to CMDB > CI List
2. In the filter sidebar, click on CI Types to expand it
3. Click on Server to filter the list

The table now shows only server CIs. In the demo environment, you'll see various servers including SAP HANA database servers, application servers, and infrastructure servers.

Opening Server Details

Click on HANADB01 to open its detail page. This is an SAP HANA database server running on VMware.

Server Overview

The server detail page shows comprehensive information:

Hardware Information

• Manufacturer - VMware, Inc.
• Model - VMware Virtual Platform
• Serial Number - DELL-HANA-001
• CPU Model - Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 6348 CPU @ 2.60GHz
• CPU Cores - 24 physical cores
• CPU Threads - 48 logical threads
• Memory GB - 128 GB RAM

Network Information

• IP Address - 120.120.120.51
• MAC Address - Network adapter hardware addresses
• Network Adapter Manufacturer - Broadcom

Collections for Servers

Servers have additional collections compared to workstations, providing deeper visibility into running applications and network activity.

Network Connections

Click on the Network Connections tab to see active network connections from the server.

This shows:

• Protocol - TCP/UDP
• Local Address - Server's IP address
• Local Port - Port the server is listening on
• Remote Address - Connected remote IP
• Remote Port - Remote port
• State - Connection state (ESTABLISHED, LISTENING, etc.)
• PID - Process ID
• Process Name - The process handling the connection (e.g., hdbindexserver, hdbwebdispatcher)

Installed Applications

Click on the Installed Applications tab to see the software inventory.

For each application, you can see:

• Name - Application name (e.g., SAP HANA Database, SAP Host Agent, SAP HANA Client)
• Vendor - Software vendor (e.g., SAP SE)
• Version - Installed version number
• Install Date - When the software was installed
• Install Location - File system path (e.g., /usr/sap/HDB)
• CPE Name - Common Platform Enumeration identifier for vulnerability matching
• Software Instance CI Id - Link to the software instance in the CMDB

Other Server Collections

Servers also include:

• Disks - Physical and logical storage
• User Accounts - Local and domain accounts
• Network Adapters - Network interface configuration
• Physical Disks - Hardware storage devices
• Events - System events and logs
• Connected Monitors - Display devices (if applicable)
• Peripheral Devices - Connected hardware

Relationships Tab

Click on the Relationships tab to see how this server connects to other infrastructure components.

How Relationships Are Discovered

NopeSight automatically discovers relationships by analyzing network connection data collected during discovery scans. When the scanner agent runs on a server, it captures:

1. Active TCP/UDP connections - All network connections the server has established
2. Listening ports - Services the server is hosting
3. Process information - Which application/process owns each connection

The system then correlates this data across all scanned servers to build a complete picture of how your infrastructure communicates.

Understanding Inbound vs Outbound

Relationships are categorized by direction based on which server initiated the connection:

Outbound Relationships

Connections where this server is the client - it initiated the connection to another server.

Example: HANADB01 connects TO SAPPRD01 on port 3200

• HANADB01 is using an ephemeral port (high-numbered, temporary)
• SAPPRD01 is listening on port 3200 (SAP application server port)
• Direction: Outbound from HANADB01's perspective

Inbound Relationships

Connections where this server is the server - another system connected to it.

Example: SAPBW01 connects TO HANADB01 on port 30015

• SAPBW01 initiated the connection
• HANADB01 is listening on port 30015 (HANA database port)
• Direction: Inbound to HANADB01

How Direction Is Determined

NopeSight uses multiple signals to accurately determine connection direction:

1. Listening Services - If a port is registered as a listening service, traffic to that port is inbound
2. Connection State - LISTEN state indicates a server port
3. Well-Known Ports - Standard service ports (22, 80, 443, 1433, 3306, etc.) indicate the server side
4. Ephemeral Ports - High ports (49152+) typically indicate the client side
5. Port Range Analysis - Lower ports are usually services, higher ports are clients

Understanding the Relationship Table Columns

Column	Description
Target CI	The server or device on the other end of the connection
Type	CI type of the target (Server, Software Instance, etc.)
Relationship	The relationship type (Connected To, Runs On, Depends On)
Port/Direction	The service port and connection direction (IN/OUT)
Process	The process(es) handling this connection on source (S:) and target (T:)
Application	AI-identified application responsible for this connection
Software Family	AI-classified category (Enterprise Applications, Database, etc.)

Understanding Port and Process Information

Port Information

• Port: 3200 - The well-known service port being used
• L:30013 → R:50001 - Local port to Remote port (shown for detailed connections)
• → OUT - Orange badge indicating outbound connection
• ← IN - Green badge indicating inbound connection

Process Information

• S: hdbindexserver - Source process (the process on the source CI)
• T: disp+work.exe - Target process (the process on the target CI)

The process names help you understand which application component is communicating. For example:

• hdbindexserver - SAP HANA database index server process
• hdbwebdispatcher - SAP HANA web dispatcher process
• disp+work.exe - SAP application server dispatcher process

Visual Dependency Map

The top section shows an interactive diagram of the server's relationships:

• Server nodes - Connected servers (SAPPI01, SAPBW01, GATEWAY01, etc.)
• Connection lines - "Connected To" relationships with arrows showing direction
• Legend - Server, Software, Software Instance types
• Zoom controls - Zoom in/out and fit to screen

AI-Enriched Relationship Data

NopeSight uses AI to automatically enrich relationship data with business context:

Application Identification

AI analyzes the combination of:

• Process names
• Port numbers
• Known software patterns
• Installed application data

To identify which application is responsible for each connection. For example, a connection on port 3200 from process disp+work.exe is identified as SAP GUI for Windows.

Software Family Classification

Applications are automatically categorized into software families:

• Enterprise Applications - SAP, Oracle EBS, Microsoft Dynamics
• Database - SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, HANA
• Monitoring - Nagios, Zabbix, SCOM
• Web Services - IIS, Apache, Nginx
• Infrastructure - Active Directory, DNS, DHCP

Grouping by Family

In the relationship table, connections are grouped by software family using expandable accordion sections. This makes it easy to:

• See all database connections together
• Identify all enterprise application dependencies
• Find monitoring system relationships

Why This Matters

Understanding relationships helps you:

1. Impact Analysis - Before making changes, see what depends on this server
2. Troubleshooting - Trace connection issues across the infrastructure
3. Change Management - Plan maintenance windows knowing all affected systems
4. Security Analysis - Understand network communication patterns
5. Documentation - Automatically maintain up-to-date dependency documentation

AI Relations View

When a server has many relationships, understanding which connections are most critical can be challenging. The AI Relations view provides deep analysis of each relationship with risk and impact assessments.

Accessing AI Relations

1. On the Relationships tab, click the AI Relations toggle button (between Table View and Risk/Impact)
2. You'll see the AI-Enhanced Relationships view

Understanding the AI Relations Interface

The AI Relations view shows:

• AI Relationships for [Server Name] - Header showing the current server
• Connection count - "Showing 9 network connections (Connected To only - excluding Runs On, Installed On)"
• Analysis status - Green indicator for "AI Analyzed (9)" and grey for "Pending Analysis (0)"
• AI Analyze button - Click to trigger or refresh AI analysis

Triggering AI Analysis

Click the AI Analyze (9) button to:

• Analyze all network connections using AI
• Generate purpose descriptions for each relationship
• Assess risk levels and business impact
• Identify tags and categories
• Create detailed explanations

The analysis uses Claude AI to examine:

• Network connection patterns
• Process and port information
• Known application signatures
• Infrastructure topology
• Business context from installed applications

AI Relationship Cards

Each relationship is displayed as a card with comprehensive AI-generated insights:

Card Header

• CI Name - The connected server (e.g., HANADB01, SAPPRD01)
• Relationship Badge - "Connected To" in orange

Connection Details

• Source - The server initiating the connection
• Target - The server receiving the connection
• Type - Relationship type (Connected To)

AI Insights Section

Each card includes AI-generated analysis:

Purpose A human-readable description of why this connection exists:

• "Network gateway connection to SAP HANA database server"
• "Database connectivity between SAP HANA and SAP Solution Manager"
• "Database services for SAP Production system"
• "SAP HANA database connection to SAP application server for data processing"

Risk Level Color-coded risk assessment:

• 🔴 Critical (Red) - Essential infrastructure connections
• 🟠 High (Orange) - Important business connections
• 🟡 Medium (Yellow) - Standard operational connections
• 🟢 Low (Green) - Non-critical connections

Business Impact Assessment of business disruption if this connection fails:

• 🔴 Critical - Business operations would stop
• 🟠 High - Significant business disruption
• 🟡 Medium - Some business impact
• 🟢 Low - Minimal business impact

Tags Categorization tags for filtering and grouping:

• sap, database, network, gateway, connectivity, bidirectional
• monitoring, management, integration
• production, business-critical
• application-server, hana
• replication, high-availability, system-replication

Description Detailed explanation of the relationship:

• "Relationship between GATEWAY01 and HANADB01 for Network gateway connection to SAP HANA database server"
• "Relationship between HANADB01 and SAPPRD01 for Database services for SAP Production system"

Example AI Analysis Results

The AI identifies different types of connections:

Connection	Purpose	Risk	Business Impact
GATEWAY01 → HANADB01	Network gateway to database	Critical	Critical
SOLMAN01 ↔ HANADB01	SAP Solution Manager monitoring	High	High
SAPPI01 → HANADB01	SAP Process Integration	High	High
SAPBW01 → HANADB01	SAP Business Warehouse	High	High
SAPPRD01 ↔ HANADB01	Production database services	Critical	Critical
SAPPRD03 → HANADB01	Application server data processing	Critical	Critical
HANADB02 ↔ HANADB01	Database replication/HA	High	Medium
SAPPRD02 → HANADB01	Production data processing	Critical	Critical
DIALOG01 → HANADB01	Dialog instance database connection	Critical	Critical

How AI Analysis Works

The AI relationship processor:

1. Collects Connection Data - Gathers all network connections from discovery scans
2. Correlates with CIs - Matches IP addresses to known configuration items
3. Analyzes Context - Examines processes, ports, and installed applications
4. Generates Insights - Uses AI to determine:
   • The business purpose of each connection
   • Risk level based on criticality and redundancy
   • Business impact based on affected services
   • Relevant tags for categorization
5. Stores Results - Saves AI metadata for future reference

Using AI Relations for Change Management

Before making changes to a server:

1. Review all Critical and High risk relationships
2. Identify which business services depend on these connections
3. Plan maintenance windows to minimize impact
4. Prepare communication for affected stakeholders
5. Create rollback procedures for critical connections

Refreshing AI Analysis

Click the AI Analyze button to refresh the analysis when:

• New connections have been discovered
• Server configurations have changed
• You need updated risk assessments
• Installed applications have been modified

The analysis status shows:

• AI Analyzed (N) - Number of connections with completed analysis
• Pending Analysis (N) - Connections awaiting analysis

AI Insights Tab

The AI Insights tab provides comprehensive AI-generated analysis of the server, covering hardware, software, security, relationships, and actionable recommendations. Unlike the AI Relations view which focuses on individual connections, AI Insights provides a holistic analysis of the entire CI.

Accessing AI Insights

1. On the server detail page, click the AI Insights tab
2. If no insights exist yet, click Regenerate Insights to generate them
3. To refresh existing insights, click Refresh or Regenerate Insights

Generating and Refreshing Insights

AI Insights are manually initiated - they are not automatically generated during discovery. This allows you to:

• Control when AI analysis runs
• Regenerate insights after significant changes
• Manage AI processing costs

Buttons available:

• Refresh - Reload the current insights from the database
• Regenerate Insights - Trigger a new AI analysis using Claude

Insight Categories

The AI Insights tab has three sub-tabs for different analysis perspectives:

Tab	Focus Area
Advanced Analysis	Infrastructure, hardware, software, and operational insights
Compliance	Regulatory compliance assessment and gaps
Security	Security posture and vulnerability analysis

Advanced Analysis Tab

The Advanced Analysis provides comprehensive insights organized into sections:

Overview

A high-level summary of the server's purpose and role:

"HANADB01 is a high-performance VMware virtual platform server running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3, serving as the SAP HANA in-memory database system in the sap.local domain. With substantial hardware including 24 CPU cores, 48 threads, and 128GB RAM, it's designed for high-speed data processing and real-time analytics. The server provides critical database services for SAP applications, supporting both transactional and analytical workloads."

Hardware and Performance

Analysis of the server's hardware configuration:

• CPU specifications (Intel Xeon Gold 6348, 24 cores, 48 threads)
• Memory configuration (128GB RAM for in-memory computing)
• VMware virtual platform flexibility
• Resource allocation for SAP HANA requirements
• Network connectivity (Broadcom NetXtreme II for high-throughput)

Software and Security

Software stack analysis:

• Operating system (SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3)
• SAP HANA certification and optimization
• Database engine, system databases, and tenant databases
• Administrative user configuration (hdbadm)
• Built-in security features (encryption, authentication, audit logging)

Network and Connectivity

Network configuration and dependencies:

• IP address and MAC address configuration
• High-performance networking for database transactions
• Data replication and backup operations
• Connections to SAP application servers (SAPPRD01, GATEWAY01)
• SAP landscape data flow

User Account Security

Security configuration assessment:

• Administrative account setup (hdbadm)
• Domain integration (sap.local)
• Database-specific access controls
• SQL permissions and privilege controls
• Database encryption and backup security

Redundancy and Availability

Business continuity assessment:

• High availability requirements
• System replication capabilities
• Backup and recovery recommendations
• Point-in-time recovery needs
• Zero-downtime operations potential

Key Relationships

Critical connections identified with impact levels:

Server	Impact	Description
SAPPRD01	Critical	Primary SAP application server for business data and transactional processing
GATEWAY01	Critical	Gateway server connection for external SAP access and Fiori applications
SOLMAN01	High	Solution Manager connection for database monitoring and system management
SAPBW01	High	Business Warehouse connection for analytical data processing and reporting

Recommendations

AI-generated actionable recommendations:

• Implement SAP HANA system replication for high availability and disaster recovery
• Set up automated HANA database backups with point-in-time recovery
• Configure HANA performance monitoring and memory management optimization
• Implement HANA data encryption for data at rest and in transit
• Set up HANA database audit logging and security monitoring
• Configure HANA system landscape and tenant database optimization
• Implement HANA backup verification and recovery testing procedures
• Set up HANA cockpit for database administration and monitoring

Risk Factors

Identified risks requiring attention:

• ⚠️ Single point of failure for all SAP data and analytics if HANA becomes unavailable
• ⚠️ Data loss risk without comprehensive backup and replication strategies
• ⚠️ Performance bottleneck for all SAP operations under high database load
• ⚠️ Business continuity risk without proper disaster recovery configuration

Anomalies Detected

Configuration concerns identified:

• 🔴 Critical HANA database without explicit system replication or clustering configuration
• 🔴 Virtual platform may introduce performance considerations for in-memory database operations
• 🔴 Limited visibility into HANA-specific configuration and optimization settings

Potential Points of Failure

Failure scenarios to mitigate:

• ❌ HANA database failure would cause complete SAP landscape outage
• ❌ Memory exhaustion could cause HANA performance degradation or service interruption
• ❌ Storage system failure could result in data loss without proper backups
• ❌ Network connectivity issues would isolate database from SAP applications
• ❌ Virtual platform host failure could affect HANA availability and performance

What Data Is Analyzed

The AI Insights processor analyzes:

1. Raw Scan Data - WMI/SSH scan results including:

   • System information (OS, manufacturer, model)
   • Hardware specifications (CPU, memory, storage)
   • Network adapters and configuration
   • Installed software and versions
   • User accounts (count only, not details)
   • Running services and processes

2. CI Relationships - Connected servers and dependencies

3. Installed Applications - Software inventory with versions

4. Network Connections - Active connections and listening ports

How Analysis Works

1. Data Collection - The system gathers all available data about the CI
2. Data Cleaning - Sensitive information (user account details) is redacted
3. AI Processing - Claude AI analyzes the data using expert IT systems knowledge
4. Insight Generation - Structured insights are generated covering:
   • Security vulnerabilities and misconfigurations
   • Infrastructure assessment and capacity planning
   • Software inventory and version management
   • Network connectivity and dependencies
   • Configuration optimization opportunities
5. Storage - Insights are saved and linked to the CI for future reference

Using AI Insights

AI Insights help you:

1. Understand Server Role - Get a clear overview of what the server does and why it matters
2. Assess Security Posture - Identify security gaps and vulnerabilities
3. Plan Capacity - Understand resource utilization and scaling needs
4. Prioritize Actions - Focus on critical recommendations first
5. Document Infrastructure - Maintain up-to-date documentation automatically
6. Prepare for Changes - Understand risks before making modifications

Best Practices

• Regenerate after major changes - Run new analysis after software updates, configuration changes, or relationship modifications
• Review regularly - Check insights periodically to catch new issues
• Act on Critical items first - Address Critical and High impact recommendations before Medium and Low
• Use with AI Relations - Combine with AI Relations view for complete understanding

Next Steps

• Business Service Analyzer - Map business services to infrastructure components