RADIUS and netElastic vBNG

Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) is a networking protocol that provides
centralized Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) management for users who
connect to and use a network service.
Almost all service providers use Radius to control access to their network and to establish and
manage the services delivered. Radius is also integrated with ISP’s billing and CRM systems.
Radius is essentially the glue between these business systems and the network, giving ISPs
complete control over the customer experience without manually adjusting network
configurations each time a subscriber is added or changes service.

netElastic vBNG Support for Radius and Billing Systems

Most ISPs either run their own Radius server and have their own in-house billing tools, or they
use one of the many ISP billing platforms available as software or hosted that have Radius
functionality in them. netElastic vBNG supports both. While integrating with a 3rd party ISP
Billing platform is fairly simple, netElastic has already completed integrations with many leading
ISP Billing platforms. A partial list of these integrations is available at
www.netelastic.com/billing-solutions.
Controlling Services with Radius and netElastic vBNG
netElastic vBNG combined with Radius is a powerful tool for service providers. In addition to
authenticating a subscriber and allowing them to connect to the network, Radius allows the
service provider to setup the service parameters for the subscriber in an automated way. Some
of the possibilities include:

• Issue a specific IP Address or dynamically assign one from a pool

• Tell the BNG which QoS/rate plan or profile the subscriber will receive
• Give the subscriber specific upload and download rates (if not using named profiles)
 • Place the customer connection into a specific VRF (perhaps for a branch of a larger
enterprise customer)
• Provide a redirect URL for web-authenticated or pay-as-you-go users
• Set or release a captive portal (e.g., it’s time to pay)
• Change the subscribers rate plan
• And much more
Radius Attributes and Dictionaries
Radius attributes are defined by public standards, but vendors such as netElastic can add
additional attributes specific to their BNGs. These vendor-specific attributes (VSA) go beyond
the public standard options enabling some of the functionality described above.
netElastic publishes its own dictionary (a file defining the VSAs) that customers can load onto
their Radius server to take advantage of this additional functionality. For the billing vendors
that have already integrated with netElastic vBNG, this step has already been completed.
netElastic vBNG also natively supports many of the Huawei VSAs, making integration with a 3rd
party billing/Radius platform even easier.
Conclusion
Radius controlled service infrastructure simplifies business and network management for the
service provider while ensuring a high-quality and consistent experience for their users.
netElastic vBNG not only supports in-house Radius options like FreeRadius, but it’s also pre-
integrated with many leading 3rd party ISP Billing/Radius platforms.