3Com 3C17203 - SuperStack 3 Switch 4400, Implementation Manual

Page: 106 / 153

106 C
HAPTER
11: M
AKING
Y
OUR
N
ETWORK
S
ECURE
To make Network Login available on the SuperStack 3 Switch 4400 SE,
upgrade the product to the Switch 4400 SE Enhanced Software Upgrade
(3C17207).
How
Network Login
Works
When Network Login is enabled the Switch acts as a relay agent between
the client device that is requesting access to the network and the RADIUS
server. The authentication information that is exchanged between the
client device and the RADIUS server is received and transmitted by the
Switch, as shown in
Figure 23 . The Switch does not interpret or store this
information.
Figure 23 Network Login Operation
When the client device and RADIUS server have exchanged
authentication information, the Switch receives either an authentication
succeeded or failed message from the server, and then configures the
port to forward or filter traffic as appropriate. If access is granted, the
Spanning Tree Protocol places the port into the forwarding state and the
client device can obtain an IP address.
If possible, when a port is configured for Network Login, it should also be
configured to be a Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) edge port. This minimizes
the delay before STP places the port into the forwarding state.