Cisco Cisco Access Registrar 5.0 Guide D’Information

Cisco Internal Use Only

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RADIUS server for a set of network access servers (NASs) and a backup for others. For example hardware specifications, see the Cisco Access

Registrar 3.5 Release Notes.

What types of accounting and billing systems does Cisco Access Registrar support?

Cisco Access Registrar supports local flat-file accounting records, proxy RADIUS accounting, or writing records directly to an Oracle or

MySQL database. In addition, Cisco Access Registrar can be configured to use a combination of these accounting methods when processing an

accounting request.

These methods also allow either offline transfers or direct feeds of accounting records into a billing server.

Cisco Access Registrar provides a special billing interface, allowing billing vendors to integrate their systems into Cisco Access Registrar for

prepaid functionality. Digiquant and Sicap are the first billing vendors to use this interface.

What are Cisco Access Registrar extensions?

Cisco Access Registrar provides a number of extension points where customers or system integrators may extend the logic of the product

through C or C++ shared libraries, Java , or TCL scripts. These extension points allow access to incoming and outgoing RADIUS packets for

complete processing control. Extension points also support the integration of completely proprietary AAA services with a RADIUS front end.

Is Cisco Access Registrar compatible with equipment from other vendors?

Yes. Cisco maintains compatibility with the latest RADIUS standards to ensure that Cisco Access Registrar is compatible with any

RADIUS-compliant client, independent of vendor. In addition, the attribute dictionary in Cisco Access Registrar is predefined with the

attributes of many third-party vendors. This dictionary is extensible

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new attributes can be added at any time.

Will Cisco Access Registrar support new AAA protocols such as Diameter?

Cisco monitors AAA standards progress and participates in developing new AAA standards. Cisco aims to be at the forefront of AAA

technology and will consider supporting new protocols such as Diameter if it makes sense to Cisco customers.

What, if any, additional software is needed to use Cisco Access Registrar?

Apart from a fully patched and supported version of the operating system, nothing—Cisco Access Registrar is fully self-contained. It has a

fast, built-in database that stores the server configuration and user information. No extra software is required to enforce user or group session

limits, to allocate IP addresses from IP pools defined in Cisco Access Registrar, to configure Cisco Access Registrar to act as a RADIUS proxy,

or to use the configuration replication feature.

Can Cisco Access Registrar process RADIUS requests differently based on attributes in the request?

Yes. Cisco Access Registrar can be configured to dynamically decide how to process requests based on any attribute in the packet,

including but not limited to user name prefix or suffix, dialed number, or calling number. An access request can be processed locally using

information in a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory server or Oracle/MySQL database, forwarded to another RADIUS

server, or using a combination of these methods. An accounting request can be processed locally into a file, forwarded to another RADIUS

server, written to a database, or a combination of these.

Can Cisco Access Registrar be configured to modify attributes in a RADIUS packet?

In addition to the authorization process where attributes stored in its internal database or external database are returned in an access-accept

packet, Cisco Access Registrar allows attributes in a RADIUS request, response, or proxy packet to be added, modified, or deleted.

What session management features does Cisco Access Registrar have?

Cisco Access Registrar is able to track user sessions. By tracking these sessions, Cisco Access Registrar can enforce session limits on a

per-user or group basis. It can also manage shared resources, including IP addresses, home-agent assignment, and on-demand address pools (for

Multiprotocol Label Switching virtual private networks).