Cisco CNS Access Registrar

Cisco Networking Services Access Registrar (CNS AR) is a RADIUS server developed by Cisco that answers the call to service provider AAA. AR is used as an access policy server and is designed to support the delivery of dial, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), and new services including DSL, cable with telco-return, wireless, and Voice over IP.

Much of the design of AR provides ease of deployment and administration for service providers. This chapter focuses on the installation and deployment of version 3.5. AR provides many benefits including support for the latest wireless authentication protocols including EAP-SIM used in Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks. AR also has the capability to make real-time AAA requests to billing systems that support the growing prepaid applications market such as cellular phone service.

AR is built on a multithreaded architecture to take advantage of multiprocessor systems and provide the highest AAA performance.