Figure 8: 802.1X Architecture - Alcatel-Lucent 7210 SAS M Interface Configuration Manual

LAG
802.1x Basics
The IEEE 802.1x standard defines three participants in an authentication conversation (see
Figure
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•
•
The authentication exchange is carried out between the supplicant and the authentication server,
the authenticator acts only as a bridge. The communication between the supplicant and the
authenticator is done through the Extended Authentication Protocol (EAP) over LANs (EAPOL).
On the back end, the communication between the authenticator and the authentication server is
done with the RADIUS protocol. The authenticator is thus a RADIUS client, and the
authentication server a RADIUS server.
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ration Guide
Client
Supplicant
EAPOL

Figure 8: 802.1x Architecture

8).
The supplicant — This is the end-user device that requests access to the network.
The authenticator — Controls access to the network. Both the supplicant and the
authenticator are referred to as Port Authentication Entities (PAEs).
The authentication server — Performs the actual processing of the user information.
Alcatel 7210 SAS M RADIUS
Authentication
Server
Authenticator
Authenticator
RADIUS
7210 SAS M, T, X, R6, R12, Mxp Interface Configu-
Server
OSSG038