Creating and Tracking Subscriber Sessions

Figure 19 shows the process that the SAE uses to create and begin tracking subscriber sessions.

Figure 19: Creating and Tracking Subscriber Sessions

To create and track a subscriber session, the SAE:

1. Authenticates the login request.
   1. Web logins are authenticated by the SAE directly. The SAE maps the login request to a retailer object in the directory by matching the requested domain name. If the retailer object:
      • Has an authentication plug-in configured, the SAE asks the plug-in to authenticate the subscriber.
      • Does not have an authentication plug-in configured, the SAE sends the authentication request to the default retailer authentication plug-in.
   2. PPP and static IP interface addresses are authenticated by the router using the RADIUS setup configured in the router. The SAE is notified only after the authentication is completed successfully.
2. Classifies the subscriber.

   The SAE runs a subscriber classification script to select the subscriber profile to load.

3. Loads a subscriber profile.

   The SAE loads the selected subscriber profile from the directory.

4. Authorizes the subscriber session.

   The SAE authorizes the subscriber session before it starts the session:

   1. The SAE checks the number of concurrent logins of the subscriber profile and its parent and sibling profiles and sends an event to the subscriber-limiting plug-in. If the maximum number of allowed concurrent logins configured in the plug-in is exceeded, the subscriber session is not authorized.
   2. The SAE calls the global subscriber authorization plug-in instances, which can perform custom authorization.

   If any of the previous steps fail, the SAE either keeps the currently active subscriber profile (in case of a Web login) or loads the unauthenticated subscriber profile. The reason for the failure is stored in the unauthenticated profile and can be displayed when the subscriber eventually connects to the portal.

5. Sends start subscriber tracking events.

   The SAE sends subscriber session start events to tracking plug-ins configured for the associated retailer and to global subscriber tracking plug-in instances.

   When a subscriber session is closed, the SAE sends subscriber session stop tracking events to the same plug-ins that received the subscriber session start events.

   The SAE does not create subscriber session interim update events.

6. Activates services for the subscriber that are set up to activate on login.

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