Table of Contents
Release Notes for Cisco Subscriber Registration Center Release 1.0
These release notes describe the caveats and new features for Cisco Subscriber Registration Center version 1.0R0.
This document contains the following sections:
- Introduction 2
- CSRC Installation Kit 3
- Distribution Media 3
- Distribution Media Content 3
- Electronic Distribution 4
- Hardware Requirements 4
- Software Requirements 5
- What's New in This Release 6
- Cisco Connection Online 8
- Documentation CD-ROM 9
- CSRC Bugs 9
Introduction
Cisco Subscriber Registration Center (CSRC) is an integrated solution for data-over-cable service providers to configure and manage broadband modems, and to enable and administer subscriber self-registration and activation.
CSRC is designed for service providers deploying subscriber self-provisioning systems. It also facilitates the retail market for cable modems similar to mobile phones and dial-up service. CSRC offers a specialized provisioning environment that allows service providers to utilize policy-related features within CSRC component products and to streamline new network service rollout. These components also help automate subscriber service provisioning, such as voice over IP (VoIP), e-mail, and Web access and configuration of subscriber CPE devices, including PCs and cable modems.
CSRC is a directory-enabled solution that works with industry-standard Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) Version 3 servers. A suite of products, CSRC consists of:
- Cisco User Registrar (UR) for subscriber provisioning and administration; UR enables cable network subscribers to self-provision account registration and activation of their cable modem and PC over the cable network by means of a Web interface. UR activates subscriber devices with account-appropriate privileges through updates to an LDAP directory.
- Cisco Modem Registrar (MR) for cable modem management; MR provides dynamic generation of Data Over Cable System Interface Specification (DOCSIS) cable modem configuration files based on network and service policies. It builds DOCSIS configuration files for clients based on cable modem, modem vendor, subnet, and headend parameters that are stored in an LDAP directory.
- Cisco Network Registrar (CNR) for Domain Name Server (DNS) and DHCP services; CNR supplies IP addresses and configuration parameters to DOCSIS cable modems and PCs based on network and service policies and allocates host names for these devices in DNS. Information related to the allocation of IP addresses is stored in an LDAP directory.
- Cisco Access Registrar (AR) for broadband telco-return and dial-up roaming; AR provides RADIUS services to DOCSIS modems for deployment of high-speed data services in a one-way cable plant requiring telco-return for upstream data. AR services may also be used to provide dial-in data services for users who are roaming outside their cable service area. AR returns RADIUS configuration parameters to NAS clients based on per-subscriber policies, which are obtained from an LDAP directory.
AR is an existing Cisco product that works with CSRC CNR, another existing Cisco product, is being upgraded to support CSRC.
UR and MR are new Cisco products. CNS/AD is the Cisco implementation of Microsoft's Active Directory. Detailed CSRC functionality is defined in the System Functional Specification.
CSRC is part of the Cisco Service Management (CSM) system of Operations, Administration, Maintenance, and Provisioning (OAM&P) and management tools for service providers and large enterprise networks. Operating at the service, network, and element layers of the Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) model, subscriber-centric and customer-focused service management. It contains powerful tools for creating new services and extending them to support the specific requirements of service provider environments.
The CSRC installation kit consists of the following components:
- CSRC distribution media
- Product key for the Netscape Application Server (NAS)
- Documentation kit which contains the following CSRC documentation:
- CSRC Release Notes
- CSRC Installation Guide for Solaris
- CSRC Installation Guide for Windows NT
- Modem Registrar Administrator's Guide
- Modem Registrar Getting Started Guide
- User Registrar User's Guide
The distribution media for CSRC version 1.0 consists of the following set of CD-ROMs:
- Cisco Network Registrar (CNR) version 3.0 (1)T or higher Technology (T) version
- Cisco Access Registrar (CAR) version 1.3
- CSRC software distribution CD-ROM
The CSRC CD-ROM is assigned the volume name csrc_1_0. On Solaris, the Volume Management daemon automatically mounts on the /cdrom/csrc_1_0 directory.
Table 1 lists the files and directories contained beneath the root directory of the CSRC CD-ROMs.
Table 1: CSRC CD-ROM Directory Layout
| Directory
| Description
|
|---|
README.txt
| Describes the CD-ROM hierarchy and explains how to contact Cisco Customer Support.
|
CSRC/Solaris
| The CSRC software packages for Solaris: CSCOcsrcd, CSCOcsrcw, CSCOcsrcn, and CSCOcsrcu.
|
CSRC/NT
| The CSRC software packages for Windows NT: For more information, see the Cisco Subscriber Registration Center Installation Guide for Windows NT.
|
docs/
| CSRC product documentation in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). This directory includes the installation guides you need to install CSRC, and the documentation for the User Registrar and Modem Registrar applications.
|
NAS/
| The contents of the Netscape Application Server product distribution.
|
Apache/
| The source and binary distributions of the Apache Web server.
|
Apache/README.txt
| The text file for the Apache Web server distributions, describing the contents of the Apache directory.
|
Perl/
| The source and binary distributions of Perl.
|
Perl/README.txt
| The text file for the Perl distributions, describing the contents of the Perl directory.
|
Note Cisco Network Registrar is available on the CNR CD-ROM, included with the CSRC distribution media.
The CSRC electronic distribution for Solaris is a gzipped tar file called csrc10-solaris.tar.gz, where 10 is the version number of the product (for example, 1.0). The Solaris electronic distribution includes the following files and directories, also included in the CSRC directory layout:
- README.txt file
- CSRC/Solaris/ directory
- docs/ directory
- portions of the NAS/ directory
- portions of the Apache/ directory
- portions of the Perl/ directory
CSRC version 1.0 requires the following hardware components:
- Sun SPARCstation or UltraSPARC Workstation
- Solaris 2.6 operating system
- CD-ROM drive
Note Your actual configuration can include several of these components.
Table 2 lists the disk space requirements for CSRC.
Table 2: CSRC Disk Space Requirements
| Component
| Solaris
|
|---|
Netscape Application Server
| 105.2 MB
|
LDAP directory server
| (See the appropriate appendix for a specific directory server.)
|
Apache Web server (optional)
| 22 MB
|
Netscape Enterprise Server (optional)
| (See Appendix A, "Netscape Enterprise Server" in the CSRC Installation Guide.)
|
Perl (optional)
| 13 MB
|
CSRC
| 26 MB
|
Note The disk space requirement for the Web server and Perl is optional if you already have these components installed. The disk requirement for the LDAP directory server increases as the directory database increases in size.
CSRC requires the use of LDAP version 3 compatible directory servers. Currently, Cisco has verified Netscape Directory Server (NDS) version 4.0. Cisco does not provide these software packages. You must purchase a copy of Netscape Directory Server version 4.0 from Netscape and you must purchase a copy of Innosoft Directory Server from Microsoft.
Table 3 lists the software packages that CSRC version 1.0 requires. Cisco provides CD-ROMs containing the packages for which Yes is indicated in the Provided column.
Note Although Cisco provides Perl and Apache Web server software for your convenience, Cisco does not support this software.
Table 3: Required Software Packages
| Software Package
| Version
| Provided
|
|---|
Cisco Network Registrar (CNR)
| 3.0 (1)T or higher Technology (T) version
| Yes
|
Perl
| 5.00503 or higher
| Yes
|
Web server
| CGI-compliant Web servers
| Yes
Apache Web server
|
Web browser
| Netscape 4.0
Internet Explorer 4.0
| No
|
Netscape Application Server (NAS)
| 2.1 SP7 Beta or higher
| Yes
|
CSRC software components
| 1.0
| Yes
|
LDAP version 3 compatible directory server
| Netscape Directory Server 4.0
| No
|
Cisco Subscriber Registration Center 1.0 offers the following features:
- User self-registration and activation---CSRC implements a user self-registration model that puts control of personal information, selection of service, and PCs into the subscriber's hands. This not only lowers the cost of acquiring and maintaining subscribers, but also speeds time to revenue generation. CSRC enables a retail sales model similar to mobile phones and dial-up service. Subscribers can sign up for cable modem service at the time they purchase their PC and, in many cases, be on line the same day.
- Automated service provisioning---CSRC helps service providers extend account management to the provisioning of both traditional services and newer, tiered services. Traditional service provisioning includes the ability to support simple setup of mail, Web accounts, and service options such as VoIP. An example of a newer service might be the ability to offer an "average daily balance" service in which a cable customer is billed for the average number of PCs connected to his or her network over a month.
- CSRC interfaces group services and service levels into service packages and offers them to subscribers at a set price. The price may be flat rate for certain services, such as browsing the Web or variable by length of connection or number of bytes transferred for other services, such as video and voice. For example, a "Basic Student Package" might include limited bandwidth or browsing, telephone-quality VoIP, and support for one PC. A "Family Package Plus" might include moderate bandwidth for browsing, CD-quality VoIP, and support for five PCs.
- PC and modem provisioning---CSRC collects information about new subscribers and the services they select, and automatically identifies the customer premise equipment (CPE) at their home or office. This information is combined with cable network configuration information to form a configuration profile for the subscriber's equipment. Each time subscribers power on their PC and cable modem, the proper network address, options, and configuration files are automatically download to the subscriber equipment according to the user profile. For example, if the subscriber selects high-bandwidth data and voice-quality telephony services, the cable modem is automatically configured to support these services. CSRC can dynamically configure subscriber computers and cable modems on-the-fly as well as other network access devices to map the network to the subscriber's service level.
- Full support for DOCSIS cable modems---DOCSIS describes the media, data link, and networking layers for operating data modems over a cable plant. These specifications ensure interoperability and security between cable modems, and cable modem termination systems (CMTS) from different vendors. DOCSIS also specifies the file format and parameters for configuring the cable modem. Version 1.0 of DOCSIS includes specifications for radio frequency (RF) and data configuration options. Version 1.1 extends the specification to include quality and level of data service between the cable modem, and CMTS. CSRC supports certain Version 1.1 options on cable modems adhering to the Version 1.0 specification enabling cable modem quality of service (QoS) and VoIP features today. These cable modems are referred to as Version 1.0 hybrids.
- CSRC extends the capability of a TFTP server to dynamically generate the content of the DOCSIS configuration file. (TFTP is the protocol used to communicate with cable modems.) Information, such as the modem vendor, the CMTS or subnet it is connected to, and the options that the subscriber has selected are used by the TFTP server to generate a complete set of DOCSIS options.
- Flexible user interfaces---CSRC provides a flexible set of user interfaces that can be easily tailored to a service provider's corporate look-and-feel. It includes standard Web page templates and workflow tables that implement user self-registration and activation. The content of these Web pages and the order in which they appear can be changed to meet the requirements of most business processes.
- CSRC also provides a means of adding data fields to standard templates for collecting additional user information not included in the standard Web templates. These data fields can be linked to new objects and attributes created by using CSRC.
- Interfaces to back-office systems---Billing system vendors are moving quickly to provide very sophisticated billing and rating engines to offer a high level of services and promotions. CSRC can collect information from subscribers and transmit it directly to these new billing systems for rate processing. It also delivers real-time data about subscribers and network problems to customer care systems to provide the most up-to-the-minute status should a customer need it.
- CSRC provides a complete data model including data schema and APIs for integration with back-office systems. The data schema is implemented on top of a standard LDAP directory. The data model includes APIs for adding objects and attributes to the CSRC data schema as well as extension points for storing and accessing data stored in databases other than LDAP directories.
- All the registrar components of CSRC (including the underlying architecture) are designed to work with both the new generation of billing systems, such as Belle Systems and Portal, as well as legacy systems where the appropriate interfaces exist.
- Extensible service components---All CSRC components provide extension points for pre- and post-processing of protocol messages and data prior to delivery to their final destinations. These extension points offer a flexible means for integrating CSRC with other products and services, extending attributes and objects stored in the directory, and adding new handling instructions for existing protocols. Extension points can be used for adding authentication methods, redirecting data normally stored in the directory to a third-party product, and adding customer-specific attributes to existing data objects.
- Carrier-grade scalability and reliability---All CSRC components are designed to operate in large-scale service provider environments to meet the demand for service from a rapidly expanding subscriber base. Through use of LDAP directories, CSRC components can be distributed throughout a service provider's network and still maintain tight integration with other components and services.
- In addition, CSRCs CNR component implements the Internet draft standard for safe fail over protocol between primary and secondary servers, which prevents the distribution of duplicate IP addresses should the network become partitioned. CNR is the only Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol DHCP/DNS product to support this protocol.
- Tight data integration using an LDAP directory---CSRC components store and share data in a standard LDAP Version 3 directory server. All CSRC components store information about PCs, cable modems, and subscribers in the directory. UR and MR also store their network policy information in the directory.
- Using the directory as a common repository allows CSRC to operate as a single subscriber provisioning system.
- CSRC is one part of a complete cable infrastructure architecture. The architecture also includes headend and backbone element monitoring and configuration, fault detection and correction, billing, and account management. CSRC components coexist and will eventually integrate with CSM products, such as Cisco IP Manager, Cisco Access Manager, and Cisco InfoCenter.
- Supports one-way cable systems and dial-in roaming services---Many existing cable systems do not take advantage of hybrid fiber/coax in their wiring plants, and therefore cannot support two-way communications over cable. CSRC, which includes AR, provides carrier-grade RADIUS services to DOCSIS modems for deployment of high-speed data services in a one-way cable plant requiring telco-return for upstream data.
- CSRC RADIUS services also provide dial-in data services for users who are roaming outside their cable service area. It can return RADIUS configuration parameters to NAS clients based on per-subscriber policies that are obtained from an LDAP directory.
Cisco Connection Online (CCO) is Cisco Systems' primary, real-time support channel. Maintenance customers and partners can self-register on CCO to obtain additional information and services.
Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, CCO provides a wealth of standard and value-added services to Cisco's customers and business partners. CCO services include product information, product documentation, software updates, release notes, technical tips, the Bug Navigator, configuration notes, brochures, descriptions of service offerings, and download access to public and authorized files.
CCO serves a wide variety of users through two interfaces that are updated and enhanced simultaneously: a character-based version and a multimedia version that resides on the World Wide Web (WWW). The character-based CCO supports Zmodem, Kermit, Xmodem, FTP, and Internet e-mail, and it is excellent for quick access to information over lower bandwidths. The WWW version of CCO provides richly formatted documents with photographs, figures, graphics, and video, as well as hyperlinks to related information.
You can access CCO in the following ways:
For a copy of CCO's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), contact cco-help@cisco.com. For additional information, contact cco-team@cisco.com.
Note If you are a network administrator and need personal technical assistance with a Cisco product that is under warranty or covered by a maintenance contract, contact Cisco's Technical Assistance Center (TAC) at 800 553-2447, 408 526-7209, or tac@cisco.com. To obtain general information about Cisco Systems, Cisco products, or upgrades, contact 800 553-6387, 408 526-7208, or cs-rep@cisco.com.
Cisco documentation and additional literature are available in a CD-ROM package, which ships with your product. The Documentation CD-ROM, a member of the Cisco Connection Family, is updated monthly. Therefore, it might be more current than printed documentation. To order additional copies of the Documentation CD-ROM, contact your local sales representative or call customer service. The CD-ROM package is available as a single package or as an annual subscription. You can also access Cisco documentation on the World Wide Web at http://www.cisco.com, http://www-china.cisco.com, or http://www-europe.cisco.com.
If you are reading Cisco product documentation on the World Wide Web, you can submit comments electronically. Click Feedback in the toolbar and select Documentation. After you complete the form, click Submit to send it to Cisco. We appreciate your comments.
For information on CSRC bugs, see the BugList.html file in the docs/ subdirectory of the CSRC CD-ROM or electronic distribution.
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Posted: Fri Oct 15 12:18:25 PDT 1999
Copyright 1989-1999©Cisco Systems Inc.
