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AAA OVERVIEW
Introduction to AAA AAA is the acronym for the three security functions: authentication, authorization
and accounting. It provides a uniform framework for you to configure these three
functions to implement network security management.
■ Authentication: Defines what users can access the network,
■ Authorization: Defines what services can be available to the users who can
access the network, and
■ Accounting: Defines how to charge the users who are using network
resources.
Typically, AAA operates in the client/server model: the client runs on the managed
resources side while the server stores the user information. Thus, AAA is well
scalable and can easily implement centralized management of user information.
Authentication AAA supports the following authentication methods:
■ None authentication: Users are trusted and are not checked for their validity.
Generally, this method is not recommended.
■ Local authentication: User information (including user name, password, and
some other attributes) is configured on this device, and users are authenticated
on this device instead of on a remote device. Local authentication is fast and
requires lower operational cost, but has the deficiency that information storage
capacity is limited by device hardware.
■ Remote authentication: Users are authenticated remotely through the RADIUS
protocol. This device (for example, a 3Com series switch) acts as the client to
communicate with the RADIUS server. You can use standard or extended
RADIUS protocols in conjunction with such systems as iTELLIN/CAMS for user
authentication. Remote authentication allows convenient centralized
management and is feature-rich. However, to implement remote
authentication, a server is needed and must be configured properly.
Authorization AAA supports the following authorization methods:
■ Direct authorization: Users are trusted and directly authorized.
■ Local authorization: Users are authorized according to the related attributes
configured for their local accounts on this device.
■ RADIUS authorization: Users are authorized after they pass RADIUS
authentication. In RADIUS protocol, authentication and authorization are
combined together, and authorization cannot be performed alone without
authentication.
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