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Modem Pool ReferenceRevised: December 21, 2000 Table of Contents Modem Pool Configuration Dynamic Reports Daily and Weekly Reports Glossary Standard Network Access Server Configuration
The standard NAS configuration is only available on those NAS that use tacacs+ for authenticating/authorizing users.
A logical modem pool is used to identify a modem pool by the phone number that is dialed to access it. It maps the physical NAS and port to a logical modem. By representing a modem pool logically, the modem pool statistics and graphs can accurately represent usage information without the need for knowledge of the specific hardware used. Logical Modem Pool Configurations The Modem Configuration page maps the logical modem pool numbers to the physical NAS and port. For each modem pool, either one or two tables will be displayed. There will always be a Current Modem Configuration table and, if some modems have been retired, a Retired Modems table. For the Current Modem Configuration table, columns include:
# a unique integer designation for a given modem in the pool
IP Address the IP address of the NAS to which the modem is connected
Port the port number of the NAS to which the modem is connected
For the Retired Modems table, if one exists, columns include:
# a unique integer designation for a given modem in the pool
IP Address the IP address of the NAS to which the modem is connected
Port the port number of the NAS to which the modem is connected
Date Retired the date the modem was taken out of service
Custom Modem Pool Authorization
MOREnet provides custom authorization of users based on logical modem pools
rather than physical equipment.
Modem Pool Per Call Time Limits Modem pool per call time limits is the method used to allow modem pool callers to have varying lengths of time they can spend dialed in to a modem pool on a per call basis. The minimum and maximum time they are allowed depends on a number of factors. Configuring modem pool usage for users Use the AcctMgr Update Org function to set the Modem Usage Limit in Hours per Month for users who are assigned to that AcctMgr Organization. Use the AcctMgr Update User function to give a user who has exceeded the Modem Usage Limit in Hours per Month they are allowed additional time in hours for the current month only. Use the AcctMgr Update Org function to set the minimum time a PPP user is allowed to spend on the modem pool. This is also the maximum time a modem pool text user or a user who telnet's to the unix server is allowed per call or telnet session. This is the number of modems in use on a logical modem pool when per call time limits start being enforced. This setting can be changed by submitting a Modem Pool Request Form. This is the number of minutes a user must wait before they can use the modem pool after their previous modem pool call was terminated due to strict time limit enforcement. This allows users who may have been getting busy signals on the modem pool a chance to make a connection before someone is allowed back on who had just used the modem pool and exceeded their Modem Pool per call Time Limit. This setting can be changed by submitting a Modem Pool Request Form. How modem pool calls are terminated A modem pool call will always be terminated when the user reaches their Monthly Modem Usage Limit in hours as configured for the AcctMgr Organization they are a member of. Any user who has reached this monthly limit will not be allowed to connect to the modem pool unless you grant them additional time using the AcctMgr Update User function. A user who connects to the modem pool using text or a user who telnet's to the unix server will always have their modem pool call or telnet session terminated when they reach the Modem Pool per call Time Limit as configured for the AcctMgr Organization they are a member of.
A PPP modem pool user will be allowed to remain connected to the modem pool
for at least the Modem Pool per call Time Limit in minutes as configured
for the AcctMgr Organization they are a member of unless they reach their
Monthly Modem Usage Limit in hours.
Please use the
Custom Modem Pool Request Form for submitting your requests for
custom modem pools. Keep in mind that when you add or remove modems from your
modem pool, the form should be submitted so that your modem pool configuration can
be updated. Per Call Accounting Records Data on each call made to each modem in the modem pool is recorded and stored in a zip file that is named [PoolName].modem.zip, where [PoolName] is the name of the modem pool. The file can be found in the logs directory of your webspace. The data can be downloaded to your local computer using ftp and then unzipped. This is a comma delimited text field that can be imported into spreadsheets or databases. Data in the file includes, in order:
Due to the large number of records in the file, it is rewritten every week to avoid taking up too much disk space. In other words, data for the previous week is the only data available. User Monthly Usage Records Data summarizing the monthly usage for each user is recorded and stored in a zip file that is named [CinName].modem.[Mon].zip, where [CinName] is your CIN nickname and [Mon] is a three letter abreviation for the month. The file can be found in the logs directory of your webspace. The data can be downloaded to your local computer using ftp and then unzipped. This is a comma delimited text field that can be imported into spreadsheets or databases. Data in the file includes, in order:
The data is generated at midnight the first day of each month when the monthly usage is reset to zero in AcctMgr. Only those user's who have modem usage are listed, and the records are sorted by usage from highest to lowest. Who is on the System displays the users of the CIN who are currently on line. Data includes: Login Name the account name used to login to the server Real Name the user's real name HH:MM the duration of the current session in hours and minutes Service PPP indicates a PPP user, shell indicates a text user, and telnet indicates a remote user The Modem Pool Records Search is password-protected by the Web Access Controller modem table. On the User Modem Usage page, select the usage search parameters. Parameters include: Modem Pool the modem pools you wish to search Username the user you wish to find Users in top the number of highest-usage users you wish displayed When the Get Usage button on the User Modem Usage page is clicked, the users with the selected criteria are displayed. Data includes: User the login name of the user Usage the number of hours the user was online over the last 4 weeks Rank the rank of the user by highest number of hours spent on line Average Call the average number of minutes the user spends online per call Organization the organization to which the user belongs CIN the community information network in which the user is a member The Modem Pool Display is password-protected by the Web Access Controller activemodem table. There are two parameters that may be selected before clicking Display. They are: Refresh By clicking this, the user list is refreshed every 30 seconds (the actual refresh rate is browser dependent) Modem Pool You may select all modem pools or a single modem pool After making sure the parameters are as you like, click Display to display the list of modems on the indicated modem pool(s) and who is using them. Beneath each Modem Pool heading, the number of active users on the modems for the pool is displayed in the form "x active users on y modems", where x is the number of users currently making use of a modem and y is the total number of modems in the pool. A link to the modem pool configuration page for the entire CIN (not an individual modem pool) is also given. Information about when strict time limits are enforced and the waiting period is listed for the modem pool. The data shown on the tables includes:
Modem the unique modem number for the modem the user is dialing into
Login Name the account name used to login to the server
Real Name the user's real full name
Time the length of time the user has been online in hours and minutes
Limit the minimum amount of time the user is allowed for this connection or NONE
Idle the amount of time the modem has been idle
(if over 24 hours, ">24hr" is displayed)
Service PPP indicates a PPP dial in,
shell indicates a text dial in, and
telnet indicates a remote dial in
CIN the community information network in which the user is a member
Assigned IP the IP address assigned, if the service used is PPP
(if the service is shell or telnet, this field is left blank)
If the modem is idle, some of the fields will be striken (namely, the login name, real name, and assigned IP fields). i.e. the data is historical and will be erased when a new caller makes use of the modem. Use this application to review modem pool error messages. You may find these messages very useful when troubleshooting modem pool connection problems. Only error messages from the last 4-5 weeks are available. There are three display areas within this application: Search Criteria, Search Results, and the Help section you are viewing. Search Criteria
Search Results Date/Time Login Name NAS-IP Port Service
Note: Only the first 100 messages that match the Search Criteria are displayed. If more than 100 error messages are found, fine-tune the Search Criteria by decreasing the time range of the search, specifying a login name, or selecting a modem pool. Daily Report of users exceeding Monthly Modem Usage Limit Nightly you will be sent email listing any users who have exceeded their Monthly Modem Usage Limit in hours for the current month. This email is sent to your webmaster account. i.e. for the CIN train the email is sent to train@train.missouri.org. This email is only sent if you have users who have exceeded their Monthly Modem Usage Limit.
Daily Modem Activity
When Modem Activity for a day of the week is selected, a graph for each modem pool of the community is displayed. An example of such a graph is found below:  
The legend indicates how the colors of the top line of the graph should be interpreted. Red indicates that 90% or more of the modems are in use at a given time, Yellow indicates 75% to 90% are in use, Green indicates 50% to 75% are in use, and Blue indicates under 50% are in use. The vertical axis of each graph is the number of modems in the modem pool. The horizontal axis is the hours of the day. For each of the modems, a black bar indicates that the modem was in use for the given time span. The color-coded top line on the graph corresponds to the proportion of modems in use at the given time, with the meanings of each color, from blue to red, explained in the legend. As can be seen in the example graph, the peak modem usage time was around 9:15pm. In general, the modem activity was light enough that users should have had little problem establishing a connection. When Modem Usage Trend is selected, a graph for each modem pool of the community is displayed. An example of such a graph is found below:  
The legend indicates how the colors of the lines in the graph should be interpreted. Red indicates the maximum number of modems at use at one time on a given day, purple indicates the upper standard variance, green indicates the median, light blue indicates the lower standard variance, and dark blue indicates the minimum number of modems in use at any time on a given day. The vertical axis of each graph is the number of modems in use and the horizontal axis is the number of days ago. As can be seen in the example graph, 134 and 155 days ago there was a steep drop in modem usage. This was probably due to the modems being off line for maintenance or some other reason. Total Server Modem Usage Trend This report is the same as the Modem Usage Trend graph except it includes the data for all modem pools which are authenticated by the unix server which hosts your community. This report is only available from the Modem Pool Statistics page on the unix servers host webspace, for example on lesche: http://www.missouri.org/ar/modem.html Call Length versus Time of Day When Call Length versus Time of Day is selected, a graph for each modem pool of the community is displayed. An example of such a graph is found below:  
The legend indicates how the colors of the lines in the graph should be interpreted. Red corresponds to the longest call, purple to the mean call length, and blue to the shortest call duration for the indicated time. The vertical axis of each graph is the length of the call(s) in hours and the horizontal axis is the time of day. As can be seen in the example graph, there were some very long calls before 6:00am. Number of Modems in Use by Time of Day When Number of Modems in Use by Time of Day is selected, a graph is displayed for each modem pool of the community. An example of such a graph is found below: 
The legend indicates how the colors of the lines in the graph should be interpreted. Red corresponds to the greatest number of modems in use at a given time, purple to the mean number, and blue to the least number of modems in use at the indicated time. The vertical axis is the number of modems and the horizontal axis is the time of day. As can be seen in the example graph, peak modem usage is around 9pm and usage begins to drop steeply starting around 11pm to its lowest level around 4am. Weekly Usage of Each Modem in Hours When Weekly Usage of Each Modem in Hours is selected, a graph is displayed for each modem pool of the community. An example of such a graph is found below: 
There is no legend. The vertical axis is the modem number (from 1 to the total number of modems in the pool) and the horizontal axis is the number of hours of use for the week. For each modem, there is an unbroken black bar that extends from the left (0 hours) to the right (total number of hours the modem was active that week). As can be seen in the graph, modem 20 has seen the most use this week (around 54 hours). Number of Modems in Use by Day of Week When Number of Modems in Use by Day of Week is selected, a graph is displayed for each modem pool of the community. An example of such a graph is found below: 
There is no legend. The vertical axis is the number of modems in use and the horizontal axis is the day of the week. For each day of the week there is a line that ranges from the lower standard variance to the higher standard variance of number of modems in use. The small square in the center of the line is the median number of modems in use for the day. As can be seen in the graph, Friday and Saturday seem to have the smallest variance in number of modems in use for the day. CIN Community Information Network IP Address Internet Protocol Address; e.g. 198.209.250.48 NAS Network Access Server PAP Password Authentication Protocol PPP Point to Point Protocol assigned IP A dynamically assigned IP address for PPP users. authenticate Get a user's login name and password, then verify the password. authorize Allow the user to continue connecting to the modem pool. If not authorized, the NAS will hang up. daily reports Reports generated on the day following the day being reported. Reports are usually generated some time between 12am and 3am. dynamic reports Reports that are generated anew each time they are requested. login name The account name used to login to the server. median The middle value of an ordered set of values. e.g. The median of (1,5,6,8,9) is 6. modem pool A collection of modem ports designated as a pool. The designation is not hardware-related; there may be multiple NAS's. service The method used to dialin: PPP, Shell (text), or telnet (remote). standard About 15% of a given quantity can be found above an upper standard variance variance and 15% can be found below a lower standard variance. e.g. Approximately 70 of 100 calls would fall between an upper and a lower standard variance of call length (roughly 15 calls above and 15 below an upper and lower standard variance, respectively). |
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