Customer Needs Assessment
Evaluate the Existing Network Environment
If you plan to implement endpoint integrity, you should also determine if the switch supports port mirroring, which may be necessary to allow NAC 800s to detect endpoints. (Depending on the switch, this feature might be called port monitoring, local traffic mirroring, or port spanning.) Do any of the switches support remote traffic mirroring, which allows one switch to mirror traffic to another switch? The ProCurve 3500yl, 5400zl, 6200yl, and 8200zl Switches all support this capability. This capability will give you some addi- tional flexibility if you are using the 802.1X deployment method for the NAC 800.
As you begin to record information about the switches, you should identify the switch vendor, model number, and firmware version. For easy reference, you can record each switch’s capabilities in a table such as Table
Table 2-3. Recording Information about Network Switches
Switch Vendor and | Firmware | Location | Authentication Methods | Port Mirroring/ |
Model Number | Version |
| Supported | Monitoring/ |
|
|
|
| Spanning |
5400zl Switch | K.12.14 | North building, area 1 | 802.1X, local and RADIUS | Remote intelligent |
|
|
| mirroring | |
|
|
|
|
|
5300xl | E.10.61 | North building, area 2 | 802.1X, local and RADIUS | Port mirroring |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You should also record information about your company’s APs. For example, do the APs on your network support the strongest security for wireless
Do your switches and APs include an 802.1X supplicant, which allows them to authenticate to the network? This capability helps prevent hackers or even