Port Access Control

In port-based authentication mode, when 802.1x is enabled globally and on the port, successful authentication of any one supplicant attached to the port results in all users being able to use the port without restrictions. At any given time, only one supplicant is allowed to attempt authentication on a port in this mode. Ports in this mode are under bidirectional control. This is the default authentication mode.

The 802.1X network has three components:

• Authenticators - Specifies the port that is authenticated before permitting system access.
• Supplicants - Specifies host connected to the authenticated port requesting access to the system services.
• Authentication Server - Specifies the external server, for example, the RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service) server that performs the authentication on behalf of the authenticator, and indicates whether the user is authorized to access system services.

The Port Access Control folder contains links to the following pages that allow you to view and configure 802.1X features on the system.