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Cisco ME 3400 Ethernet Access Switch Software Configuration Guide
OL-9639-06
Chapter 8 Configuring IEEE 802.1x Port-Based Authentication
Understanding IEEE 802.1x Port-Based Authentication
These sections describe IEEE 802.1x port-based authentication:
• 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
Device Roles
With IEEE 802.1x port-based authentication, the devices in the network have specific roles as shown in
Figure 8-1.
Figure 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.)
Note To resolve Windows XP network connectivity and IEEE 802.1x authentication issues, read
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
in Cisco Secure Access Control Server Version 3.0 or later. RADIUS operates in a client/server
model in which secure authentication information is exchanged between the RADIUS server and
one or more RADIUS clients.
101229
Workstations
(clients)
Authentication
server
(RADIUS)