Cisco 300 Series Administration Manual page 419

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This is described in the figure below:
A network device can be either a client/supplicant, authenticator or both per port.
Client or Supplicant
A client or supplicant is a network device that requests access to the LAN. The
client is connected to an authenticator.
If the client uses the 802. 1 x protocol for authentication, it runs the supplicant part
of the 802. 1 x protocol and the client part of the EAP protocol.
No special software is required on the client to use MAC-based or web-based
authentication.
Authenticator
An authenticator is a network device that provides network services and to which
supplicant ports are connected.
The following authentication modes on ports are supported (these modes are set
in Security > 802. 1 X/MAC/Web Authentication > Host and Authentication):
• Single-host—Supports port-based authentication with a single client per
port.
• Multi-host—Supports port-based authentication with a multiple clients per
port.
• Multi-sessions—Supports client-based authentication with a multiple
clients per port.
Cisco Small Business 200, 300 and 500 Series Managed Switch Administration Guide (Internal Version)
Security: 802.1X Authentication
Overview of 802. 1 X