FaxBack Port Server RADIUS Support (RFC 2865, 2866) - Manual (Page 6)

FaxBack Proprietary and Confidential Page 6 of 58
To support “Accounting-Requests”, a RADIUS server must properly save and/or process the
FaxBack vendor-specific attributes contained in RADIUS Accounting-Request packets. The port
server sends Accounting Start, Alive (Interim Update), and Stop packets for every session.
The text file “Port Server RADIUS Dictionary.txt” contains the RADIUS definition for all FaxBack
vendor-specific attributes used by the port server.
Account Management
From the perspective of the port server, an account is merely a collection of properties (a
database record of some form) that includes at a minimum a unique name (unique among all
other accounts) and a password. The RADIUS server must recognize account names in a case-
insensitive manner (i.e., “Abc” is equivalent to “aBC”), and keep the length between 1 and 16
bytes (to exceed the 16 byte limitation, see UUID Mode on page 53). Accounts uniquely identify
port server clients that login to the port server. The account name is included in CDRs that are
saved following fax sessions, in order to identify clients for billing purposes.
With the account name and password provided by the client, the port server uses RADIUS to
make the logical connection between the client and an account that is managed by an external
system. The port server uses RADIUS to obtain only the account information that it requires in
order to authorize clients for sending faxes, and for routing inbound faxes to clients.
Account records managed by another system almost certainly include information that is beyond
the scope of the port server. Furthermore, the maintenance of this database, including the
provisioning of new accounts for new users is outside of the scope of the port server.
A port server client must be configured with an account name and password in order to login to
the port server. Clients are typically the Fax SDK that has been configured to send and receive
faxes through a port server, or a fax ATA that supports HTTPS fax integration. There are many
types of applications that use the Fax SDK, ranging from single-user clients (e.g., Microsoft
Fax/Windows Fax and Scan), to multi-user fax servers (e.g., NET SatisFAXtion or the Windows
Fax Service), and high-density broadcast clients.
To route an inbound fax to a port server client, the port server uses RADIUS to retrieve account
information for the account associated with a DID. This process takes place when the port server
detects an inbound call, but before it has been answered. Accounts can have any number of
DIDs mapped to them. Similar to the way that accounts are managed by an external system, the
port server uses RADIUS to lookup an account using a DID as the search criteria, but how DIDs
are physically managed is beyond the scope of the port server.
When a fax is received on the client, the application that uses the Fax SDK (e.g., a fax server)
can examine the DID associated with the received fax, should it need to perform some action
based on the DID.
Configuration
To enable RADIUS support on a port server, run the port server “Fax Hardware Setup”
application. The port server will be temporarily unloaded when RADIUS configuration changes
are made.