SDX Components > Component Overview

Component Overview

The SDX software is a dynamic system. It contains many components that you use to build a subscriber management environment. You can use these tools to customize and extend the SDX software for your use and to integrate the SDX software with other systems.

Table 5 gives a brief description of the components that make up the SDX software. For more information, see the following sections. Table 6 gives a brief description of standard infrastructure components that the SDX software uses. For more information, see Infrastructure Components.

 Table 5:  Descriptions of SDX Components  

 Component
 Description

 Basic Components
 


 Network information collector (NIC)

 Collects information about the state of the network and can provide a mapping from a given type of network data to another type of network data. 


 Service activation engine (SAE) 


  
 Authorizes, activates, and deactivates subscriber and service sessions by interacting with systems such as Juniper Networks routers, cable modem termination system (CMTS) devices, RADIUS servers, and directories.
  
 Collects accounting information about subscribers and services from routers, and stores the information in RADIUS accounting servers, flat files, and other accounting databases.
  
 Provides plug-ins and application programming interfaces (APIs) for starting and stopping subscriber and service sessions and for integrating with systems that authorize subscriber actions and track resource usage. 



 Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) agent

 Monitors system performance and availability. It runs on all the SDX hosts and makes management information available through SNMP tables and sends notifications by means of SNMP traps. 


 Management Tools
 


 Local configuration tool

 Generates start scripts and initial local configuration for newly installed SAEs and SNMP agents.


 Policy Editor and management

 Defines how the router or CMTS device treats subscriber traffic. Gives service providers the ability to define and modify policies and to store these policies in the directory.


 SDX Admin

 Allows service providers to add, modify, and delete services, network definitions, and advanced configurations within the SDX software. 


 SDX Configuration Editor

 Provides a way to configure several other SDX components through an XML-based application. You can configure properties for SAE, NIC, and logging, as well as other features. 


 SDX Web Administration Tools

 Admission Control Plug-In administration application

 Monitors Admission Control Plug-In (ACP) and reorganizes the backup directory.


 JPS Administration

 Manages and monitors Juniper Policy Server (JPS).


 NIC Web Admin

 Displays NIC configurations in the directory, manages hosts, and simulates resolutions.


 Policy Web Admin

 Searches for quality of service (QoS) policy information.


 SAE Web Admin

 Manages and monitors the operation of SDX software; tests portals and classifier scripts.


 Traffic Mirroring Administration application

 Manages and monitors mirroring tasks.


 Service Management Portals

 Enterprise Service Portal

 Lets service providers supply an interface to their business customers for managing and provisioning services.


 Residential Service Selection Portal 

 Provides a framework for building Web applications that allow residential and enterprise subscribers to manage their own network services. It comes with several full-featured sample Web applications that are easy to customize and suitable for deployment. 
 
 


 SAE Application Programming Interfaces

 CORBA plug-in service provider interface (SPI)

 Tracks sessions and enables linking the rest of the service provider's operations support system (OSS) with the SDX software so that the OSS can be notified of events in the life cycle of SAE sessions.


 CORBA remote API

 Provides remote access to the SAE core API.


 SAE core API

 Controls the behavior of the SDX software.


 Applications (in the SDX application library)

 ACP

 Authorizes and tracks subscribers' use of network resources associated with services that the SDX application manages.


 Advanced Services Gateway (ASG) 

 Allows a gateway client—an application that is not part of the SDX network—to interact with SDX components through a Simple Object Access (SOAP) interface.


 Intrusion detection and protection (IDP) integration applications

 Integrates IDP into an SDX-managed environment to manage malicious traffic sent to or received by subscribers.


 Instant Virtual Extranet (IVE) Host Checker integration application

 Integrates the IVE Host Checker into an SDX-managed environment to verify that the subscriber systems used to connect to a service provider comply with the service provider's policies.


 Sample IP television (IPTV) application

 Demonstrates how the SDX software might be used to manage network resources for IPTV services.


 Monitoring Agent Application

 Integrates IP address managers, such as a DHCP server or a RADIUS server, into an SDX-managed network so that the SAE is notified about subscriber events.


 Prepaid service application demonstration

 Prepaid Account Web Admin that manages prepaid accounts.


 Traffic-mirroring application

 Mirrors subscriber traffic on any subscriber access platform supported by the SDX software. Provides the Traffic-Mirroring Administration portal to manage the mirroring of subscriber traffic.


 Volume-tracking applications (VTAs)

 Monitors subscriber resource usage to allow service providers to offer flexible usage quotas, limit bandwidth to subscribers that overuse network resources, and to notify subscribers who may have been compromised by viruses or worms that overuse network resources.


 Workflow application

 Automates the process of provisioning and decommissioning primary access services for subscribers.



 

 Table 6:  Standard Infrastructure Components  

 Component
 Description

 AAA RADIUS server 

 Authenticates subscribers and authorizes their access to the requested system or service. Accepts accounting data—time active and volume of data sent—about subscriber and service sessions.


 Directory

 Provides a repository of subscriber information, services, policies, and service portal configurations. The SDX software uses the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) for interactions with the directory. 


 Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE) application server

 Enables J2EE applications, including Web applications, to be used with the SDX software.


 Relational database (RDB)

 Provides a repository of frequently updated subscriber usage and resource information.