Important Considerations; What Is Radius - 3Com SuperStack 3 3812 Implementation Manual

Important
Considerations

What is RADIUS?

This section contains some important considerations when using RADIUS
authentication of Switch Management Login on the Switch.
Before you enable RADIUS authentication you must ensure that:
■
The Switch is configured with a static IP address.
■
RADIUS has been configured on the Switch.
■
The RADIUS server in your network is operational.
■
If the Switch is unable to contact the RADIUS server, the Command
■
Line Interface automatically reverts to using the local Switch database
for user authentication. This allows a user with "admin" access to
login to the Switch via the console port and continue to manage it.
The Web interface and Telnet do not revert to the local database, and
the user will not be able to log in to the Switch via the Web interface
or Telnet.
The user names and passwords stored in the local Switch database
■
may not be the same as those stored on the RADIUS server. When a
user account is created on a RADIUS server, an equivalent account is
not automatically created in the local Switch database, and vice versa.
Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) is an industry
standard protocol for carrying authentication, authorization and
configuration information between a network device and a shared
authentication server. Transactions between each network device and the
server are authenticated by the use of a shared secret. Additional security
is provided by encryption of passwords to prevent interception by a
network snooper.
RADIUS is defined in the RFCs 2865 and 2866, "Remote Authentication
Dial-in User Service (RADIUS)" and "RADIUS Accounting".
Network Login, a method of port-based access control, and Switch
Management Login, used to control administrative access, both utilize
the RADIUS protocol.
What is RADIUS? 83