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Cisco Secure ACS 3.0 for Windows 2000/NT Servers User Guide
78-13751-01, Version 3.0
Chapter 1 Overview of Cisco Secure ACS
Cisco Secure ACS Specifications
System Performance Specifications
The performance capabilities of Cisco Secure ACS are largely dependent upon
the Windows server it is installed upon, your network topology and network
management, the selection of user databases, and other factors. For example,
Cisco Secure ACS can perform many more authentications per second if it is
running on a 1.4-GHz Pentium IV server with Windows 2000 Server on a 1 GB
ethernet backbone than it can if it is running on a 200-MHz Pentium II server with
Windows NT 4.0 on a 10 MB LAN.
For more information about the expected performance of Cisco Secure ACS in
your network setting, contact your Cisco sales representative. The following
items are general answers to common system performance questions. The
performance of Cisco Secure ACS in your network depends on your specific
environment and AAA requirements.
• Maximum users supported by the CiscoSecure user database—There is
no theoretical limit to the number of users the CiscoSecure user database can
support. We have successfully tested Cisco Secure ACS with databases in
excess of 100,000 users. The practical limit for a single Cisco Secure ACS
server authenticating against all its databases, internal and external, is
approximately 300,000 to 500,000 users. This number increases significantly
if the authentication load is spread across a number of replicated
Cisco Secure ACS servers.
• Transactions per second per number of users—Assuming 10,000 users in
the CiscoSecure user database, a single processor 300-MHz Pentium II server
provides 80 RADIUS full login cycles (authentication, accounting start, and
accounting stop) per second and approximately 40 TACACS+ logins per
second. As the database grows, this performance declines roughly
proportionately.
• Maximum number of AAA clients supported—Cisco Secure ACS can
support AAA services for approximately 2000 network devices running a
AAA client.
Cisco Secure ACS Windows Services
Cisco Secure ACS operates as a set of Windows NT or Windows 2000 services
and controls the authentication, authorization, and accounting of users accessing
networks.