ZyXEL Communications MES-2110 manual Technical Reference, Radius and TACACS+, Radius vs. TACACS+

Chapter 10 802.1x

Table 18 Configuration > 802.1x Status (continued)

LABEL	DESCRIPTION
Guest VLAN	This shows if a Guest VLAN is enabled on the port.
Reauthenticat	This shows if a subscriber has to periodically re-enter his or her username
ion	and password to stay connected to the port.
Reauth-Period	This shows how often (in minutes) a client has to re-enter his or her
	username and password to stay connected to the port.
Undo	Click this to restore your last saved settings.
Apply	Click Apply to save your changes to the MES-2110’s run-time memory.
	The MES-2110 loses these changes if it is turned off or loses power, so
	use the Save Settings link in the navigation panel to save your changes
	to the non-volatile memory when you are done configuring.

10.6 Technical Reference

This section provides technical background information about the topics covered in this chapter.

10.6.1 RADIUS and TACACS+

RADIUS and TACACS+ are security protocols 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 and TACACS+ authentication both allow you to validate an unlimited number of users from a central location.

The following table describes some key differences between RADIUS and TACACS+.

Table 19 RADIUS vs. TACACS+

	RADIUS	TACACS+
Transport	UDP (User Datagram Protocol)	TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)
Protocol
Encryption	Encrypts the password sent for	All communication between the client
	authentication.	(the MES-2110) and the TACACS
		server is encrypted.

10.6.2 Supported RADIUS Attributes

Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) attributes are data used to define specific authentication, and accounting elements in a user profile, which is stored on the RADIUS server. This appendix lists the RADIUS attributes supported by the MES-2110.

84

MES-2110 User’s Guide