Session Persistence and Management

The Apollo PAS provides the Anywhere Client with a persistent IP address allowing users to log in once and, for the duration of a policy-defined session, maintain all configuration parameters, encryption and compression settings. This ensures that no reconfiguration is required at any time during the session, even when all connections between the client and the server are lost and later recovered. Because Apollo supports IP address persistence it is transparent to third party VPNs based on IPsec and SSL that require a fixed IP address in order to operate.

Apollo’s own encrypted Layer 2 L2TP VPN tunnel and all other session parameters are maintained by policy between the PAS and the Anywhere Client until one or other of the endpoint issues a disconnect. A disconnection event occurs; when the remote user logs off, an administrator forces a disconnect or an inactivity timer is triggered (such as when a re-authentication event is not completed on time). Force logoff’s can also be triggered automatically to accommodate security policies which dictate a user must re-authenticate on a time boundary. For instance, some jurisdictions require users to re-login every 4 hours. Other than for these reasons Apollo manages the availability of the L2TP tunnel, the persistence of the IP address and the state of the applications at both ends. Examples of events during which the session will persist include:

• Remote device suspends operations and later resumes;
• User physically removes a NIC or modem from the remote device on which the server connections relies and later replaces it;
• Remote device moves into an area without any wired or wireless connectivity and then back into coverage;
• Remote device encounters a source of radio interference that completely prevents traffic from being sent and received and then moves clear of the interference;
• Remote device roams between wide area networks or between subnets on the same network - for example, from a Wi-Fi network to a GSM HSPA network;
• Wide area network are bonded together or dropped from the available bandwidth pool.

Apollo supports configurable session timeouts to ensures that active sessions on the Anywhere server only persist when they are in accordance with the user or administrator’s policies.