C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Ieee 802.1X Port-Based Authentication; Device Roles - Cisco ME 3400 Software Configuration Manual

Understanding IEEE 802.1x Port-Based Authentication
These sections describe IEEE 802.1x port-based authentication:
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Device Roles

With IEEE 802.1x port-based authentication, the devices in the network have specific roles as shown in
Figure
Figure 8-1
Workstations
(clients)
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Cisco ME 3400 Ethernet Access Switch Software Configuration Guide
8-2
Device Roles, page 8-2
Authentication Initiation and Message Exchange, page 8-3
Ports in Authorized and Unauthorized States, page 8-4
IEEE 802.1x Accounting, page 8-5
IEEE 802.1x Accounting Attribute-Value Pairs, page 8-5
IEEE 802.1x Host Mode, page 8-6
Using 802.1x Readiness Check, page 8-7
Using IEEE 802.1x with Port Security, page 8-7
Using IEEE 802.1x with VLAN Assignment, page 8-8
802.1x Switch Supplicant with Network Edge Access Topology (NEAT), page 8-9
8-1.
IEEE 802.1x Device Roles
Client-the device (workstation) that requests access to the LAN and switch services and responds
to requests from the switch. The workstation must be running IEEE 802.1x-compliant client
software such as that offered in the Microsoft Windows XP operating system. (The client is the
supplicant in the IEEE 802.1x specification.)
To resolve Windows XP network connectivity and IEEE 802.1x authentication issues, read
Note
the Microsoft Knowledge Base article at this URL:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q303/5/97.ASP
Authentication server-performs the actual authentication of the client. The authentication server
validates the identity of the client and notifies the switch whether or not the client is authorized to
access the LAN and switch services. Because the switch acts as the proxy, the authentication service
is transparent to the client. In this release, the RADIUS security system with Extensible
Authentication Protocol (EAP) extensions is the only supported authentication server. It is available
Chapter 8 Configuring IEEE 802.1x Port-Based Authentication
Authentication
server
(RADIUS)
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