Axis Communications 231D+ Date & Time, 802.1X Network Admission Control, Authentication process

AXIS 231D+/232D+ - System Options 37

802.1X - Network Admission Control

IEEE 802.1X is an IEEE standard for port-based Network Admission Control. It provides authentication to devices attached to a network port (wired or wireless), establishing a point-to-point connection, or, if authentication fails, preventing access on that port. 802.1X is based on EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol).

In a 802.1X enabled network switch, clients equipped with the correct software can be authenticated and allowed or denied network access at the Ethernet level.

Clients and servers in an 802.1X network may need to authenticate each other by some means. This is done with the help of digital certificates provided by a Certification Authority. These are then validated by a third-party entity, such as a RADIUS server, examples of which are Free Radius and Microsoft Internet Authentication Service.

To perform the authentication, the RADIUS server uses various EAP methods/protocols, of which there are many. The one used in the Axis implementation is EAP-TLS (EAP-Transport Layer Security).

The AXIS network video device presents its certificate to the network switch, which in turn forwards this to the RADIUS server. The RADIUS server validates or rejects the certificate and responds to the switch, and sends its own certificate to the client for validation. The switch then allows or denies network access accordingly, on a preconfigured port.

The authentication process

RADIUS

RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service) is an AAA (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting) protocol for applications such as network access or IP mobility. It is intended to work in both local and roaming situations.

CA servers

In cryptography, a Certification Authority (CA) is an entity that provides signed digital certificates for use by other parties, and thus acts a trusted third party.

There are many commercial CAs that charge for their services. Institutions and governments may have their own CA, and there are free CAs available.

Date & Time

Current Server Time - displays the current date and time (24h clock). The time can be displayed in 12h clock format in the Overlay Images (see below).

New Server Time - Select your time zone from the drop-down list and check the daylight saving time changes, if desired.