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DES-3550 Fast Ethernet Layer 2 Switch
Factory Reset Yes No
User Account Management
Add/Update/Delete User Accounts Yes No
View User Accounts Yes No
Table 7- 1. Admin and User Privileges
After establishing a User Account with Admin-level privileges, be sure to save the changes by opening the Maintenance
folder, opening the Save Changes window and clicking the Save Configuration button.
Access Authentication Control
The TACACS / XTACACS / TACACS+ / RADIUS commands let you secure access to the Switch using the TACACS /
XTACACS / TACACS+ / RADIUS protocols. When a user logs in to the Switch or tries to access the administrator level
privilege, he or she is prompted for a password. If TACACS / XTACACS / TACACS+ / RADIUS authentication is
enabled on the Switch, it will contact a TACACS / XTACACS / TACACS+ / RADIUS server to verify the user. If the user
is verified, he or she is granted access to the Switch.
There are currently three versions of the TACACS security protocol, each a separate entity. The Switch's software supports
the following versions of TACACS:
TACACS (Terminal Access Controller Access Control System) - Provides password checking and
authentication, and notification of user actions for security purposes utilizing via one or more centralized
TACACS servers, utilizing the UDP protocol for packet transmission.
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Extended TACACS (XTACACS) - An extension of the TACACS protocol with the ability to provide more
types of authentication requests and more types of response codes than TACACS. This protocol also uses UDP
to transmit packets.
TACACS+ (Terminal Access Controller Access Control System plus) - Provides detailed access control for
authentication for network devices. TACACS+ is facilitated through Authentication commands via one or more
centralized servers. The TACACS+ protocol encrypts all traffic between the Switch and the TACACS+ daemon,
using the TCP protocol to ensure reliable delivery
In order for the TACACS / XTACACS / TACACS+ / RADIUS security function to work properly, a TACACS /
XTACACS / TACACS+ / RADIUS server must be configured on a device other than the Switch, called an Authentication
Server Host and it must include usernames and passwords for authentication. When the user is prompted by the Switch to
enter usernames and passwords for authentication, the Switch contacts the TACACS / XTACACS / TACACS+ / RADIUS
server to verify, and the server will respond with one of three messages:
The server verifies the username and password, and the user is granted normal user privileges on the Switch.
The server will not accept the username and password and the user is denied access to the Switch.
The server doesn't respond to the verification query. At this point, the Switch receives the timeout from the
server and then moves to the next method of verification configured in the method list.
The Switch has four built-in Authentication Server Groups, one for each of the TACACS, XTACACS, TACACS+ and
RADIUS protocols. These built-in Authentication Server Groups are used to authenticate users trying to access the Switch.
The users will set Authentication Server Hosts in a preferable order in the built-in Authentication Server Groups and when
a user tries to gain access to the Switch, the Switch will ask the first Authentication Server Hosts for authentication. If no
authentication is made, the second server host in the list will be queried, and so on. The built-in Authentication Server
Groups can only have hosts that are running the specified protocol. For example, the TACACS Authentication Server
Groups can only have TACACS Authentication Server Hosts.
The administrator for the Switch may set up 6 different authentication techniques per user-defined method list (TACACS /
XTACACS / TACACS+ / RADIUS / local / none) for authentication. These techniques will be listed in an order
preferable, and defined by the user for normal user authentication on the Switch, and may contain up to eight
authentication techniques. When a user attempts to access the Switch, the Switch will select the first technique listed for
authentication. If the first technique goes through its Authentication Server Hosts and no authentication is returned, the
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