RADIUS Accounting Server MIB
RFC 2621

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Network Working Group                                             G. Zorn
Request for Comments: 2621                                       B. Aboba
Category: Informational                                         Microsoft
                                                                June 1999

                      RADIUS Accounting Server MIB

Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  This memo
   does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of
   this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This memo defines a set of extensions which instrument RADIUS
   accounting server functions. These extensions represent a portion of
   the Management Information Base (MIB) for use with network management
   protocols in the Internet community.  Using these extensions IP-based
   management stations can manage RADIUS accounting servers.

1.  Introduction

   This memo defines a portion of the Management Information Base (MIB)
   for use with network management protocols in the Internet community.
   In particular, it describes managed objects used for managing RADIUS
   accounting servers.

   RADIUS accounting servers are today widely deployed by dialup
   Internet Service Providers, in order to provide accounting services.
   As a result, the effective management of RADIUS accounting servers is
   of considerable importance.

2.  The SNMP Management Framework

   The SNMP Management Framework presently consists of five major
   components:

    o   An overall architecture, described in RFC 2571 [1].

    o   Mechanisms for describing and naming objects and events for the
        purpose of management. The first version of this Structure of
        Management Information (SMI) is called SMIv1 and described in

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        STD 15, RFC 1155 [2], STD 16, RFC 1212 [3] and RFC 1215 [4].
        The second version, called SMIv2, is described in STD 58, RFC
        2578 [5], RFC 2579 [6] and RFC 2580 [7].

    o   Message protocols for transferring management information. The
        first version of the SNMP message protocol is called SNMPv1 and
        described in STD 15, RFC 1157 [8]. A second version of the
        SNMP message protocol, which is not an Internet standards
        track protocol, is called SNMPv2c and described in RFC 1901
        [9] and RFC 1906 [10].  The third version of the message
        protocol is called SNMPv3 and described in RFC 1906 [10], RFC
        2572 [11] and RFC 2574 [12].

    o   Protocol operations for accessing management information. The
        first set of protocol operations and associated PDU formats is
        described in STD 15, RFC 1157 [8]. A second set of protocol
        operations and associated PDU formats is described in RFC 1905
        [13].

    o   A set of fundamental applications described in RFC 2573 [14] and
        the view-based access control mechanism described in RFC 2575
        [15].

   Managed objects are accessed via a virtual information store, termed
   the Management Information Base or MIB.  Objects in the MIB are
   defined using the mechanisms defined in the SMI.

   This memo specifies a MIB module that is compliant to the SMIv2. A
   MIB conforming to the SMIv1 can be produced through the appropriate
   translations. The resulting translated MIB must be semantically
   equivalent, except where objects or events are omitted because no
   translation is possible (use of Counter64). Some machine readable
   information in SMIv2 will be converted into textual descriptions in
   SMIv1 during the translation process. However, this loss of machine
   readable information is not considered to change the semantics of the
   MIB.

3.  Overview

   The RADIUS accounting protocol, described in [16], distinguishes
   between the client function and the server function. In RADIUS
   accounting, clients send Accounting-Requests, and servers reply with
   Accounting-Responses.  Typically NAS devices implement the client
   function, and thus would be expected to implement the RADIUS
   accounting client MIB, while RADIUS accounting servers implement the
   server function, and thus would be expected to implement the RADIUS
   accounting server MIB.

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   However, it is possible for a RADIUS accounting entity to perform
   both client and server functions. For example, a RADIUS proxy may act
   as a server to one or more RADIUS accounting clients, while
   simultaneously acting as an accounting client to one or more
   accounting servers.  In such situations, it is expected that RADIUS
   entities combining client and server functionality will support both