Allied Telesis AT-S62 - Manual (Page 467)

AT-S62 User’s Guide
Section VI: Port Security 467
Figure 153 Example of the Authenticator Role
As mentioned earlier, the switch itself does not authenticate the user
names and passwords from the clients. That is the responsibility of the
authentication server, which contains the RADIUS server software.
Instead, a switch simply acts as an intermediary for the authentication
server by denying access to the network by the client until the client has
provided a valid username and password, which the authentication
server validates.
Supplicant Role
A port in the supplicant role acts as a client. The port assumes it must log
in by providing a valid user name and password to whatever device it is
connected to, typically another switch.
Figure 154 illustrates the port role. Port 11 on Switch B has been set to
the supplicant role. Now, whenever Switch B is power cycled or reset
and initiates a link with Switch A it will have to log on by providing a
username and password. (You enter this information when you
configure the port for the supplicant role.)
MODE STATUS
AT-8524M Fast Ethernet Switch
Supplicant with
802.1x Client
Software
RADIUS
Authentication
Server
Port 2 in
Authenticator
Role
Port 24 in
None Role