NowWAP & NowSMS architecture

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FRaveau
New member
Username: Fraveau

Post Number: 12
Registered: 06-2012

Posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 - 11:34 am:

Hi,

We are setting up an MMSc solution based on NowWAP and NowSMS. It works now but I admit I not fully anderstand what going on and then if our setup is fine.

For now the WAP GW is used for MMS only to add the MSISDN to the HTML post made by the handset.

I don't really anderstand the relation between the WAP GW and the MMSc.

They are both are configured into the handset using public IP. Does the HTML requests go to the GW and are proxied to the MMSc using the public IP? So It goes trought the GW, goes back to the internet and then reach the MMSc?

So what is the HTTP proxy configuration page in the NowWAP parameter?

I was wondering if the MMSc could be reached using a private IP. The Wap GW would be a front-end for the MMSc.

Thanks

Des - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Desosms

Post Number: 3994
Registered: 08-2008

Posted on Thursday, June 14, 2012 - 09:49 pm:

Hi,

Normally both the WAPGW and MMSC are both on private IP.

Mobile devices only connect directly to the WAPGW, so the private IP address of the WAPGW needs to be accessible to the network that the mobile devices are on.

There can be no NAT (network address translation) between mobile device and WAPGW.

The WAPGW proxies requests to the MMSC. The MMSC does not have to be directly accessible to mobile devices, as they will only interact via a proxy.

I would recommend against putting the WAPGW and MMSC on public IPs to avoid potential denial of service attacks. If they are on public IPs, use firewalls to limit inbound connections.

The MMSC does require outbound internet connectivity to enable it to dynamically fetch device user agent profiles from phone manufacturer web sites.

All this said, the MMSC might require public inbound connections on one of its ports, if you are using the "Convert to SMS" feature for legacy handsets or external network delivery. (See http://www.nowsms.com/mms-conversion-to-sms-with-web-link)

quote:
So what is the HTTP proxy configuration page in the NowWAP parameter?

The configuration option "Route connections via external proxy server"?

Normally this setting is not used. One of our integration partners uses it as an interface for their content billing platform. That is why the setting exists.