ippool management and cluster

[Alan DeKok]

Alexandre Chapellon wrote:
> Right, nothing will query the database directly on radius servers.

  Then don't put a database there.

> But i
> really need to have one central database that will be queried by webapps
> to let users know about thier quota left, time of connection etc...

  Then put a database there.  But you likely need DB writes only on
things like session close, or maybe every hour.  Since the RADIUS
accounting packets come every 10 minutes, having "quota" information
down to the minute is pretty much impossible.

> Does this central radius server can log all queries proxied to him to an
> sql database (i know i'm boring with SQL accounting database! :))
> If i read you well... it 's not! Am i asking too much from SQL? how else
> can we achieve it?

  That central server can log *aggregated* data.  i.e. it doesn't have
to log all of the data "live" as it comes in.

> you mean splitting pool by NASes and radius server?... then sqlippool is
> not really needed anymore?

  You can use sqlippool, because it makes management easier.  But don't
expect it to work across many RADIUS servers with one SQL server.
Instead, split the IP pools by NAS && RADIUS server.  A little bit of
careful planning up front should be able to simplify the system, and
make it more robust.

> OK, i trust you but I don't see any chance of having no SQL enabled
> accounting. It's almost a requirement for me.

  Note that I never said *no* SQL.  I just said you don't need it
*everywhere*.

  Alan DeKok.