Interface Configuration
7750 SR OS Interface Configuration Guide Page 125
802.1x Basics
Figure 28: 802.1x Architecture
The IEEE 802.1x standard defines three participants in an authentication conversation (see
Figure 28).
• The supplicant — This is the end-user device that requests access to the network.
• The authenticator — Controls access to the network. Both the supplicant and the
authenticator are referred to as Port Authentication Entities (PAEs).
• The authentication server — Performs the actual processing of the user information.
The authentication exchange is carried out between the supplicant and the authentication server,
the authenticator acts only as a bridge. The communication between the supplicant and the
authenticator is done via the Extended Authentication Protocol (EAP) over LANs (EAPOL). On
the back end, the communication between the authenticator and the authentication server is done
with the RADIUS protocol. The authenticator is thus a RADIUS client, and the authentication
server a RADIUS server.
OSSG038
Client Alcatel 7450 ESS RADIUS
Authentication
Server
Supplicant
EAPOL RADIUS
Authenticator
Authenticator
Server
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