Chapter 25 AAA
XGS1930 Series User’s Guide
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25.1.2 What You Need to Know
Authentication is the process of determining who a user is and validating access to the Switch. The
Switch can authenticate users who try to log in based on user accounts configured on the Switch itself.
The Switch can also use an external authentication server to authenticate a large number of users.
Authorization is the process of determining what a user is allowed to do. Different user accounts may
have higher or lower privilege levels associated with them. For example, user A may have the right to
create new login accounts on the Switch but user B cannot. The Switch can authorize users based on
user accounts configured on the Switch itself or it can use an external server to authorize a large number
of users.
Accounting is the process of recording what a user is doing. The Switch can use an external server to
track when users log in, log out, and so on. Accounting can also record system related actions such as
boot up and shut down times of the Switch.
Local User Accounts
By storing user profiles locally on the Switch, your Switch is able to authenticate and authorize users
without interacting with a network AAA server. However, there is a limit on the number of users you may
authenticate in this way (See
RADIUS
RADIUS is a security 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.
The following table describes some key features of RADIUS
25.2 AAA Screens
The
AAA
screens allow you to enable authentication and authorization or both of them on the Switch.
First, configure your authentication server settings (RADIUS) and then set up the authentication priority,
activate authorization.
Click
Advanced Application
>
AAA
in the navigation panel to display the screen as shown.
Table 92 RADIUS
RADIUS
Transport
Protocol
UDP (User Datagram Protocol)
Encryption
Encrypts the password sent for
authentication.