GS-4012F/4024 User’s Guide

CHAPTER 16

Port Authentication

This chapter describes the 802.1x authentication method and RADIUS server connection setup.

16.1 Overview

IEEE 802.1x is an extended authentication protocol2 that allows support of RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service, RFC 2138, 2139) for centralized user profile and accounting management on a network RADIUS server.

16.1.1 RADIUS

RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) authentication is a popular protocol used to authenticate users by means of an external server instead of (or in addition to) an internal device user database that is limited to the memory capacity of the device. In essence, RADIUS authentication allows you to validate an unlimited number of users from a central location.

Figure 49 RADIUS Server

16.2 Configuring Port Authentication

For network security, enable port authentication to check the identity of the user before access to the network is allowed. The switch authenticates users against the remote RADIUS server you specify.

To enable port authentication:

•activate IEEE802.1x security (both on the switch and the port(s))

•configure the RADIUS server settings.

2.At the time of writing, only Windows XP of the Microsoft operating systems supports it. See the Microsoft web site for information on other Windows operating system support. For other operating systems, see its documentation. If your operating system does not support 802.1x, then you may need to install 802.1x client software.

Chapter 16 Port Authentication

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