Before a client can start to access and consume services on a network, they must first be Authenticated to the network and then Authorized to use the services they are entitled too.  Their consumption of network resources then needs to be captured via the Accounting processes.  Collectively, Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) is a cornerstone of today’s network security, management and in many cases, monetization. RADIUS is a standard protocol to implement this AAA service.

As these networks grow, limitations can occur which add administrative overhead, inhibit flexible scaling and impact the timely synchronization of data across the AAA environment.

Using MySQL Cluster as the data store for a RADIUS server makes a lot of sense as it brings with it all of the standard MySQL Cluster benefits such as real-time response times, scalability, high availability and geographic redundancy.

Two new white papers have been produced to explain how MySQL Cluster can be used as the fault-tolerant, real-time, scalable data store for FreeRADIUS (a leading, open-source RADIUS server):

• Delivering Massively Scalable & Highly Available Authentication Services: a business white paper explaining the benefits to be gained by using MySQL Cluster as the database behind FreeRADIUS, including high availability and the independent scaling of RADIUS service layer and database layer. It includes benchmark data as well as a case study from a major ISP assessing MySQL Cluster for this purpose.
• Deploying FreeRADIUS with the MySQL Cluster Database: a technical white paper which explains how to configure both MySQL Cluster and FreeRADIUS for different scales of production deployments.