Basic and most important functions

Transcription

1 Work with tariffs Basic and most important functions MikroBill gives you an efficient and clear way how to manage tariffs. You are able to set price, max. speed in/out, aggregation. System supports burst functionality of Mikrotik. Work with tariffs One of the main tabs, which opens immediately following entry to the system, is Tariffs. In this section you can browse the complete list of all created tariff programs, and also edit, add and remove tariffs. It is however necessary to remember that the removal of a tariff program is possible only in the case that no other user is connected to this. The program displays the total number of users, as well as the number of users who are online (on the network) for each specific tariff. The Add New Tariff button in the upper right-hand corner enables immediate addition of a tariff program. The following parameters are entered in its profile: Name of tariff Price how much user pays per month for internet services. Price may include VAT or may be displayed without VAT. In the second case, VAT shall be added to all bill items upon issuing. Note this setting influences all accounts and services which the selected user is to use. This means that upon addition of a tariff for a user, the user is automatically allocated to a group in which bills are issued including VAT, or without VAT with addition of VAT to the price. Rate of VAT by default 20%, this may differ according to country. Maximum download data rate (in kbps) Maximum upload data rate (in kbps) Speed guaranteed to user in % of maximum data rate (Limit-at) Aggregation maximum possible number of users on one line Partners using given tariff Tariffs to which the user may switch Burst special Burst mode.

2 Burst mode If you use a Mikrotik router in your network, you have the option of using this function, specially created by Mikrotik for the wireless network. This regime is used to speed up the browsing of web pages. The Burst regime enables allocation of a higher data rate to a user than the user's maximum data rate for the given tariff (Max Limit) for a set time. Burst-limit (Limit of Burst regime in kbps): maximal upload/download data rate which can be reached during the Burst mode. Burst-time ((Duration of Burst regime in seconds): time frame, in seconds, over which the average data rate is calculated (this is not equal to the time of real operation in the Burst mode) Burst-threshold (Maximum data rate in Burst regime in kbps): this is the data rate, which when reached by the user activates/deactivates the Burst mode. The mechanism of the Burst regime is simple if the Burst regime is permitted, the maximum data rate value Max Limit is substituted by the limit for the Burst regime, and the user obtains a far higher speed than is in the tariff for a short time. Afterwards a calculation of the average data rate is performed and the Burst regime is suspended. This takes place throughout the entire period by means of the set value of the Burst-time parameter. For a more detailed description, including examples, see Users management Customers are shown in a table with ability to add/edit or delete them. Each customer has a status and each status has own color in the table, so you can easily find needed type of customers. This section offers a range of various options. First of all there is search for an object according to set parameters (name, address, tariff, region, account status, status etc.), according to group of parameters or with the function of browsing the entire list of all objects. Secondly there is browsing and editing of the profile of each user entered in the customer database. Similarly as in a range of other systems, users with different network statuses (on network, disconnected etc.) are indicated by different colors, which simplifies viewing of information. After the addition of an object it is necessary, after clicking on the add user button, to fill in the standard form, stating the name, locality, tariff, category (natural person or legal entity) and further data which may be appropriate for work with each user.

3 One of the advantages of the program is the possibility of adding a new field for describing the properties of an object in the Settings section, which considerably simplifies work. For this purpose it is necessary to go to Settings, open the Tab Additional Fields of Object and add the necessary field or adjust the existing one. If a superfluous field is saved it can be easily erased by clicking on one button. For each user it is possible to browse the following sections: Information Tab is already known to us, where general information about user is stated. Services list of services which user makes use of each month. Here information about the internet connection service, which is carried forward from the prescribed tariff, is added as standard. Invoices (payments) accounting of user, user discount according to the tariff and also a complete list of all bills which have been sent to the user, including their dates of issuing and payment, as well as their status (paid unpaid), as designated by the administrator. All monthly bills are generated and sent to users automatically. It is possible to issue a bill for the user manually for special services (for example installation of equipment). Statistics statistics of user visits, data download and upload, dates of connection and disconnection from network, as well as technical details of connection. Tickets statistics of customer inquiries sent to the technical support department, stating the data and subject of the inquiry. Comments a commentary containing any text can be added to each user. Invoices, payments MikroBill is issuing invoices on automatic or manual basis. It gives you possibility to sort invoices, show them in PDF and send to customers via . Invoices, payments The possibility of issuing bills in the program is resolved as follows: an automatic regime exists for the issuing and sending of bills, as well as a manual regime for creating bills for any one-off service, for example for setting up of equipment, sale of router etc. The automatic regime presupposes operation repeating every month, which may be generation of bills for access to internet, VoIP, IPTV or other services which are paid for regularly.

4 Work with billing documents Information about issued bills can be obtained in two sections. First of all look in the Users section, and select the Invoices Tab. Here it is possible to browse all issued bills in PDF form, as well as to indicate receipt of payment or to delete an entry. In the case of deletion of an entry the bill turns inactive, but the bill record remains in the program. In the same Tab it is possible to create a new bill manually. All of this information relates only to a single customer. In order to obtain all the information about bills and payments in the system for all users, it is necessary to go to the Invoices system, where the administrator performs the main and everyday work with payments. The User section features a functionality available for browsing all issued bills or bills for the current month in PDF form; filtering is performed by the user name or by the date of the accounting period. In addition to this a commentary can be seen in the overall list for what the bill was issued, to whom, the billed amount, date of issue and date of payment. Data import It is possible to enter the paid status manually in each bill. However, in the case of a large number of users, processing would require a large amount of time. As a result the program contains the option of downloading data from the bank statement. In such a case the date of payment is entered automatically, and if any data, such as first name and surname, amount or address does not correspond, the system informs the administrator of this matter so that the administrator can match this data manually or can check or amend the data. ATTENTION! In the case of repeated download of already processed payments, only new payments are considered, whilst old payments are simply ignored, so you can be sure that one and the same payment will not be processed twice or three times. Exports of billing documents In order to simplify interface with accounting, the function of transmitting data on payments into the accounting program has been created. As a result no extra works are required, and downloading of data from the bank statement is used not only as an input for billing (invoicing), but also for the required accounting software. Mikrotik routers Using MikroBill you can centrally manage all your Mikrotik routers, apply Shaping rules and QoS using Queue Tree. All co-operation of MikroBill with routers is implemented via Mikrotik API.

5 Mikrotik routers One of the main advantages of our solution is the connection of Mikrobill with the Mikrotik equipment, which is widely used in wireless networks of internet connection providers. Using Mikrobill you can centrally manage all your Mikrotik routers, adjust Shaping and QoS. All mutual co-operation is implemented via Mikrotik API. In the Equipment Tab, the Mikrotik routers sub-menu features a functionality to add/amend or remove a router. Upon addition of a new router it is necessary to remember that if its old configuration has remained in it, it may be lost or problems may occur with the operation of the router as a consequence of a conflict of various configuration parameters. As a result it is recommended to connect a router to the system with basic settings only. All configuration parameters shall be supplied by means of Mikrobill. Upon addition and amendment of a router, the following parameters are installed - Name of router Type and manufacturer IP address main IP address SNMP Community SNMP authorisation. Authorisation parameter which is set on your router. Mikrobill is connected via SNMP to a router with this password and copies the system statistic to itself. Login/password data for connection to router City place where router is located NAT only upon active Shaping. This point designates whether the router is an NAT server. If yes is indicated, traffic is indicated as Postrouting, and queues are arranged to Global-out. If NAT is not active, packets are indicated as Prerouting and the queue rules are changed to Global-in. The second option places a far smaller burden on the central processor of the router. As a result, in the case of local shaping, upon use of weak routers we recommend that NAS and QoS are not used. QoS Only upon active Shaping. This point is designated if prioritisation of traffic is performed on the router. If Yes is indicated, shaping switches to the following regime First of all prioritisation of traffic is performed, i.e. all packets are first of all indicated as Prerouting on the basis of the QoS setting (sub-menu QoS) and arranged into the queue into Global-In. After prioritisation and division of traffic, a second indication of packages takes place to Postrouting, and for the use of division of the band for users for Global-Out. Shaping point, which designates whether or division of the permeability band is performed for the user on the router. If the Yes option is active, the Queue Tree mechanism is used. The place where packets are indicated and queues are arranged depends on whether the NAT and QoS fields are active. In the case of the No option, it is unconditionally necessary to select a Shaper from the list, which shall deal with designation of the width of the channel for the user and traffic prioritisation.

6 User Accounting Upon selection of No, specific information about the operation of each user shall be inaccessible. Upon an active Radius the user statistics shall be downloaded via the Radius server (Mikrobill system module). If Mikrotik is active, the IP Accounting router function is used. The sub-menu of the selected router contains various types of information: IP addresses sub-networks allocated from our designated networks in the menu My IP networks. After addition of an IP network to the router it is necessary to add the interface, IP address and also to choose whether to activate the DHCP server for this network. If the DHCP server is activated, users connected to this interface shall automatically receive the IP addresses from the allocated network. At present it is possible to use DHCP only in combination with the Radius server. Firewall possibility of setting regulations of firewall. The Mikrotik syntax has been retained for flexible setting of own regulations. QoS Quality of service, management of traffic prioritisation on the given router. Queue Type at present only support for PCQ algorithm is available as the most effective for the creation of Shaping and QoS. Status system information, which is delivered to Billing upon connection to Mikrotik API router. RADIUS and AAA Very important part of each Internet provider's network is verification system of user access to the network. MikroBill have a solution for this question in using RADIUS protocol. MikroBill supports user's verification through DHPCP (MAC address), PPPoE, VPN (PPTP), WiFi WPA2. RADIUS and AAA Mikrobill enables the operation of a network both with and without the Radius server. What are the main differences, advantages and deficiencies of operation with the Radius server within the network? Mikrobill has a Radius module, which was developed for connection by the FreeRadius server. The FreeRadius server may be installed on a separate machine, or on the same as Mikrobill. For the beginning a few words about the Radius server in general. RADIUS (Remote Authentication in Dial-In User Service) is a protocol for the implementation of authentication, authorisation and gathering of data on used resources which have been developed for data transmission between the central platform and the network equipment. Your network thus contains a facility which manages authorisation and takes into account the users traffic by means of communication with network facilities via this Radius protocol. Below is a table showing differences between operation of Mikrobill in connection with the Radius server and without.

7 Description of activity in ISP network Without Radius server With Radius server Authorisation of Ethernet users Authorisation lacking or used via statically allocated IP address and MAC filteringg Upon use of DHCP in network question arises of distinguishing IP Possibility of using DHCP (MAC + IP in address of client in Shaping function of password), PPPoE or PPtP process. As a result all DHCP leases authorisation are set manually on each router, in which a separate system of authorisation is required via the Firewall and/or MAC filtering Authorisation of WiFi users Statistics of users All passwords WPA2/WEP and accounts are set manually and are saved in access routers IP accounting Mikrotik function used, system information is contained in routers and copied to MikroBill server once every 5 minutes. All passwords WPA2/WEP are saved centrally in database of Radius server Accounting function of Radius protocol used. In conclusion we can state that the use of the Radius server has numerous advantages, because the network becomes fully centrally controllable. Upon use of Radius in combination with the use of Mikrotik API and Queue Trees, Mikrobill becomes the most complex software for management of the network by a provider which can be imagined. A disadvantage of the Radius server lies in the fact that all the access routers are connected by the Radius protocol to a single server, and in the case of its failure the entire network becomes inaccessible. As a result it is necessary to have a BackUp server and a standby Radius. IP space management Each ISP has in own network a lot of IP addresses. For convenient work some of administrators store IP address plans in excel or database. MikroBill will store all your IP networks in one place and you will know exactly where your IPs are used in the network.

8 IP space management Using Mikrobill you can effectively manage your address space. Within the menu Equipment -> IP addresses all blocks of IP addresses which the company has at its disposal are set. These may be external and internal IP addresses. Networks are added in CIDR format, a table with examples is shown below - CIDR entry Mask Number of addresses Classfull type entry / /64 С / /32 С / /16 С / /8 С / /4 С / /2 С / С / С / С / С / С / С / С / С / С After adding networks you have the option of allocating individual blocks of addresses (subnetworks) to routers. For this purpose go to the menu of the IP address of the designated router.

9 After selecting the size of the sub-network (standard is 254 addresses - /24 networks) allocate it to a certain interface of the router. Afterwards the entire sub-network becomes inaccessible for further allocation of further routers, and large networks containing an allocated sub-network and the small sub-networks therein are also blocked. Example after allocation of sub-network /24 to Router 1 from the common pool /22, the network /24 is blocked in this pool, from which it shall further be possible to allocate only networks /24, /24, /24 and /23 or smaller blocks from the above sub-networks. After allocation of sub-networks to the router, the IP address shall be allocated only from the block which is entered on its access router. Allocation of IP addresses is performed in the user settings upon its entry into Mikrobill or upon other amendments. In the results the Overall Statistics of the occupancy of the pools are displayed in the table as percentages. It is worthwhile remembering that upon allocation of a network to router 2 the IP addresses are always reserved for the broadcast and default gateway. Upon clicking on the IP address in the menu IP addresses, a window appears with a table listing the routers to which sub-networks are allocated from the selected pool of addresses. Network monitoring MikroBill uses SNMP protocol. It builds parent-child relations between devices and it sends alerts in the case of failure of some equipment. Interface, CPU, Memory usage statistics of all equipment in MRTG charts are a matter of course. Network monitoring The main advantages of using our monitoring - Monitoring of operation of all facilities in network every minute. In case of failure of equipment an notification is automatically sent to the administrator. Configuration of a tree in Parent-Child format. This enables precise determination of the source of non-functioning of the network. For example, if the main switch ceases to function, all routers and users connected to this switch will cease to access the network. An entire part of the network shall thus cease to function and regular monitoring without trees then requires time and analyses in order to detect the equipment which caused the outage of the entire network and subsequently rectify the problem. If tree connections exist, the administrator has the visual possibility to precisely determine the source of the problems, and subsequently decide on their rectification, without losing time on the localisation of non-functioning equipment.

10 A very important element is monitoring of the load capacity of channels, CPU and memory of equipment. All this information is displayed in the form of graphs. Mikrobill uses a standard group of functions of the MRTG packet in combination with the SNMP protocol. The administrator has the possibility to see standard MRTG graphs set with the help of SNMP Mikrobill templates and also to set and centrally enter the MRTG settings for the network facilities. Add/edit device Upon addition/editing of a new facility, the following is stated in monitoring: Name, Type of facility this may be a router, switch or server. Parent in tree structure, Manufacturer and model. Unconditionally state manufacturer if this is in the list. This will provide you with extended possibilities for work with the facility via SNMP thanks to the SNMP templates integrated into Mikrobill. IP address and SNMP community password; via this field billing is linked with the equipment. Address and city physical location of facility. Activity this point concerns whether you wish to activate monitoring for the given facility now. It is possible to add a facility and then subsequently activate monitoring after performing all its settings.. Table of MRTG. A table is displayed here, where each row is a field with a single element, for which a graph is sketched. This may be a network interface or CPU load or the number of PPP sessions on the router. It is possible to add own SNMP parameters and configure MRTG completely according to your own preferences. A very useful function is MRTG setting using templates via Mikrobill, which is possible using the Get MRTG Configuration button. After clicking on the button the table fills in the field which Mikrobill has obtained via SNMP from the facility. All you have to do now is simply to select the required fields and add them using the Activate button. For detailed familiarisation with the functions of monitoring we recommend that you watch the instruction videos on our website, which show in detail the addition and setting of monitoring parameters. Customer's portal Each user will definitely appreciate, if his ISP will provide him access to his data as a detailed listing of invoices, the number of downloaded data, the possibility to change the tariff, etc.

11 Customer's portal For access to the personal file, user login and the allocated password is used, which the user may change. The following Tabs are accessible within the personal file: Invoices continuous user accounting and list of received bills, both paid and awaiting payment. Settings general information about user, tariff, price, contact details, in which the user may adjust the address and password. A function is also available here for adjusting the tariff. If transition from the existing tariff to another tariff is possible, this shall be stated in the personal file, and it shall be possible to adjust the tariff program only by clicking on the relevant button. News and notifications any communication from administrators or news from the company, as well as Inquiries, in which it is possible to browse all the inquiries created and sent by the user as well as responses obtained from administrators, as well as the button for creating a new inquiry. In the case of obtaining a new response or notification from the administration, the number of unread notifications is displayed here. The administrator portal contains the possibility of creating and browsing Inquiries is addressed in a number of sections in the Users section and also in the News and Notifications section. Whilst it is possible to browse requests in the Users section only for each specific user, and to create new users, in the News and Notifications section it is possible to see the entire list of user requests and inquiries, however for the creation of a new inquiry it is necessary to go to the Users Tab in order to create an addressed notification. The number of new responses and communications from users is stated in brackets in the News and Notifications section. Video tutorials Please take a look at tutorials to find how our system works. Watch how simple it is: To work with tariffs To work with customers database To work with customer's information To issue invoices and process payments