Atop EH7506, User Manual

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2.14
Security
Two security features are provided, Port Security and 802.1X
2.14.1
Background on 802.1X
802.1X: is an IEEE standard for port-based Network-Access Control, and it provides an
authentication mechanism to devices wishing to attach to a LAN or WLAN. This protocol restricts
unauthorized clients from connecting to a LAN through ports that are open to the Internet. The
authentication basically involves three parties (Figure 2.82): a supplicant, an authenticator, and
an authentication server.
- Supplicant: A client device that requests access to the LAN.
- Authentication Server: The server performs the actual authentication. We use RADIUS (
R emote
A uthentication D ial- I n U ser S ervice) as the authentication server.
- Authenticator: The Authenticator is a network device that acts as a proxy between the
supplicant and the authentication server. It passes around information, verifies information
with the server, and relays responses to the supplicant.
The authenticator acts like a security guard to a protected network. The supplicant is not allowed
access through the authenticator to the protected side of the network until the supplicant’s identity
has been validated and authorized. With 802.1X authentication, a supplicant and an authenticator
exchange EAP ( E xtensible A uthentication P rotocol, an authentication framework widely used by
IEEE). Then the authenticator forwards this information to the authentication server for verification. If
the authentication server confirms the request, the supplicant (client device) will be allowed to access
resources located on the protected side of the network.
RADIUS:
The Radius is a networking protocol that provides authentication, authorization and
accounting management for devices to connect and use a network service.