Merit Network Transformation Builds ISP Profits

What happens when world-class RADIUS programming meets venture capital? Interlink Networks. But this isn't the same old dial-up program you knew—it's a radical authentication program that's a real moneymaker for your business.

by ISP-Planet Staff
[December 5, 2000]

Without Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service, there wouldn't be much of an Internet because there wouldn't be a system for "inter-linking" people with content.

Historical perspective
RADIUS is a client-server software protocol that enables remote access servers to communicate with a central server, which authenticates dial-in users and authorizes access to the requested system or service. RADIUS software also powers the back-office accounting functions of just about every dial-up ISP there ever was.

A few old-timers in the crowd might recollect that the roots of RADIUS are buried deeply in Lucent, Livingston, and the Merit Network—a routing research project established at the University of Michigan.

In September, the Merit Network and the University of Michigan spun off the RADIUS endeavor as an independent software vendor—and so Interlink Networks, Inc. was born.

Cash in pocket
The company quickly picked up $5 million in an equity financing round led by Siemens Mustang Ventures, Nokia Internet Communications, and Arbor Partners.

The investors bought into Interlink Networks' vision of a ubiquitous Authenticate-Authorize-Accounting (AAA) infrastructure capable of evolving to support new services on the Internet. John Vollbrecht, principal architect of the Merit AAA Server, current co-chair of the IETF IRTF AAA Architecture Research Group, chief technical officer and founder of Interlink Networks, explains.

"The Internet is exploding with new services such as Mobile IP, Voice over IP, Fax over IP, Quality of Service (QoS) routing, and all varieties of Application Service Providers," Vollbrecht said. "As the application of these services in e-commerce increases, buyers and sellers will need to establish standard ways of describing business agreements.

"To solve this problem, organizations will negotiate Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that define business relationships, and AAA servers will evaluate and enforce these agreements in real time," he explained. "To solve the obvious scaling problems of millions of service providers and millions of user organizations having to establish business relations, brokers will emerge to act as middlemen, much as occurs in non-internet businesses."

Not your father's server
Simply stated, Interlink Networks' strategy is to drive standards-based AAA technology and server policies, which will enable dial-up, wired, and/or wireless providers to build a seamless Internet infrastructure capable of delivering new services and applications anywhere, anytime—and they're doing it with plug-and-play simplicity.

Casey Schesky, Interlink Networks vice president of sales and marketing, said there are three reasons why the software vendor's programming isn't your Daddy's RADIUS anymore. "First, we rebuilt the software to be modular," Schesky said. "We're supporting a plug-in methodology so ISPs can build unique AAA systems around their individual SLAs."

Pricing starts at $1,995 for the AAA RADIUS Server software, which comes with a 1,000- to 5,000- user license and a one-year maintenance agreement. That's a relatively reasonable price for a small ISP to pay for the ability to authenticate users across wired and wireless platforms providing metered and un-metered access.

Second is Interlink Networks Software Developer's Kit (SDK), which facilitates a build-your-own RADIUS application. Schesky said the $2,500 package includes sample code and a standard Application Program Interface (API).

"ISPs can build their RADIUS with the SDK," Schesky said. "Many ISPs have unique authentication needs and the SDK allows technicians to build an authorization system on an as-needed basis."

The third element of the Interlink Network offering is its AAA Server Test Facility. Schesky said the service allows network administrators to test configurations, functionality, and the performance of an AAA RADIUS server before they put it into a real-world production environment.

"By using the Test Facility, customers can speed the testing process for custom configured AAA Servers," Schesky said. "The engine runs automated scripts to stress test the server. The system includes regression testing in a real-life environment."

According to Schesky, Cisco is currently using the testing program on its applications, but any ISP or ASP could benefit from finding out if what programming they think will work, actually functions the way it was supposed to. What's the price tag for taking the guesswork out of mission critical applications? About $5,000 to get started, more if you want advanced maintenance plans for your Internet service.

Dream it, be it
The beauty of Interlink Networks' AAA RADIUS is that the program can adapt to new services. Your ISP business doesn't have a static service portfolio. So why would you use an authentication program that limits your ability to grow your business?

Schesky said, "AAA RADIUS is about the future of your ISP business because it has the underlying technology to accomplish what your need to do today—and can adapt to new services that you need to authenticate tomorrow."

"We've structured our offering around existing protocols and emerging standards like DIAMETER and COPS," Schesky added. "RADIUS worked fine for dial-in, but it's not robust enough to handle VoIP, or QoS demands. It's the key to an access provider's ability to adopt and deploy new revenue-generating services."

If you've ever dreamed of being able to tap into roaming fees for single-user access from a PC, laptop or handheld device, pondered per-minute charges for technical support, or considered delivering applications on a per-user basis, AAA RADIUS could be just the program your infrastructure needs.

Sorry Microsoft fans, there's no program for NT at this time. AAA RADIUS is a flexible platform perfect for supporting small- and medium-sized ISPs operating Unix- or Linux-based systems be they Solaris, BSDI, or another flavor of *nix.

— End      

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