Providing high availability (HA) for an enterprise service-oriented architecture like SAP NetWeaver is a challenge — typical setups include multiple integrated SAP systems that are required around the clock for continuous, one-step business scenarios. This article helps you meet this challenge in your own systems by explaining the SAP NetWeaver architecture, its configuration, the procedures involved, and the implications of these elements on systems availability. It starts with an overview of HA basics, and then discusses the technical details of an HA setup with SAP NetWeaver, including topics such as architectural single points of failure (SPOFs) and ways to isolate and protect such failure points.