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Configuring portal authentication, Overview, Extended portal functions – H3C Technologies H3C S6300 Series Switches User Manual

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Configuring portal authentication

The term "interface" in this chapter collectively refers to Layer 3 interfaces, including VLAN interfaces.

Overview

Portal authentication controls user access to the Internet. Portal authenticates a user by the username and
password the user enters on a portal authentication page. Therefore, portal authentication is also known

as Web authentication. When portal authentication is deployed on a network, an access device

redirects unauthenticated users to the website provided by a portal Web server. The users can access the

resources on the website without authentication. If the users want to access the Internet, they must pass
authentication on the website.
Portal authentication is classified into the following types:

Active authentication—Users visit the authentication website provided by the portal Web server
and enter their username and password for authentication.

Forced authentication—Users are redirected to the portal authentication website for authentication
when they visit other websites.

Portal authentication flexibly imposes access control on the access layer and vital data entries. It has the
following advantages:

Allows users to perform authentication through Web pages without installing client software.

Provides ISPs with diversified management choices and extended functions. For example, the ISPs
can place advertisements, provide community services, and publish information on the

authentication page.

Supports multiple authentication modes. For example, re-DHCP authentication implements a
flexible address assignment scheme and saves public IP addresses. Cross-subnet authentication can

authenticate users who reside in a different subnet than the access device.

The device supports Portal 1.0, Portal 2.0, and Portal 3.0.

Extended portal functions

By forcing patching and anti-virus policies, extended portal functions help hosts to defend against viruses.
Portal supports the following extended functions:

Security check—Detects after authentication whether or not a user host installs anti-virus software,
virus definition file, unauthorized software, and operating system patches.

Resource access restriction—Allows an authenticated user to access certain network resources such
as the virus server and the patch server. Users can access more Internet resources after passing

security check.

Security check must cooperate with the H3C IMC security policy server and the iNode client.