Designing Access Controls

Choose RADIUS Servers

RADIUS Servers in a Network Without Endpoint Integrity

The first PDPs discussed in this chapter are RADIUS servers, which provide these authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) services:

Authenticate end-users—verify that users are who they claim to be

Authorize end-users—grant users rights based on their identities

Create accounting records—collect information about end-user activ- ity, including when users connect, how long they connect, and which resources they consume

ProCurve Networking offers RADIUS services in these devices:

ProCurve NAC 800

ProCurve Wireless Edge Services Module internal RADIUS server (sup- porting up to 500 users in the local database)

ProCurve AP 530 internal RADIUS server (supporting up to 100 users)

In addition, ProCurve devices have been validated with these RADIUS servers:

Juniper® Networks (formerly Funk) Steel-Belted RADIUS (SBR)

Microsoft® Internet Authentication Service (IAS)

You might have a different RADIUS server that will function with ProCurve devices. However, decision trees in this section will cover only the servers listed above.

Choose Which Devices Will Play the Role of PDP

As you may remember, a device can play multiple access control roles. The same device can be PEP and PDP, and a PDP can store policies and credentials locally. You must consider which devices will play which roles in your network.

The endpoint will always be a separate device—the device seeking network access. The basic combinations for the other three components are:

General—All three components reside on separate devices. Endpoints connect to switches and APs (PEPs), which send authentication requests to one or more external RADIUS servers (PDPs). The RADIUS servers check credentials (and possibly limited policies) against a directory service. Additional policies can be configured on the RADIUS server through IDM.

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