> I'm working on a new Radius daemon, and as I read and reread the
> accounting draft, the following scene keeps slapping me in the face.
>
> a) Customer with a pay-by-hour account signs on.
>
> b) Radacct starts an invoice for the customer session.
>
> c) PortMaster freezes for some reason. (All non-trivial systems
> contain bugs after all.)
>
> d) Shop lacky power-cycles PM.
>
> e) Invoice is never brought to a close and session billing skyrockets.
>
> f) Customer notices billing discrepancy, and hauls said dude to
> court. Alternatively, long sessions are written off for several
> customers, and ISP loses significant revenue.
>
> Is it just me, or do people think the PM should send some unforgeable
> message on each power cycle. I have suggested a protocol, however I
> never received a reply from Livingston. What is the appropriate manner
> for suggesting additiond to the RADIUS Accounting draft?
>
With the accounting package we've written (now in beta), where I don't
think this will happen.. Or rather it will toss out that session, (actually gets
logged as a session that is still pending). A free ride for the day! But rather
than continue billing, that call never gets billed.
Dana Huggard
TVI Interactive Systems Inc.
Burnaby, BC. Canada
"http://www.tvinet.com/tvi/"