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Catalyst 3750-X and 3560-X Switch Software Configuration Guide
OL-25303-03
Chapter 1 Configuring IEEE 802.1x Port-Based Authentication
Understanding IEEE 802.1x Port-Based Authentication
Figure 1-6 Authenticator and Supplicant Switch using CISP
Guidelines
• You can configure NEAT ports with the same configurations as the other authentication ports. When
the supplicant switch authenticates, the port mode is changed from access to trunk based on the
switch vendor-specific attributes (VSAs). (device-traffic-class=switch).
• The VSA changes the authenticator switch port mode from access to trunk and enables 802.1x trunk
encapsulation and the access VLAN if any would be converted to a native trunk VLAN. VSA does
not change any of the port configurations on the supplicant
• To change the host mode and the apply a standard port configuration on the authenticator switch
port, you can also use AutoSmart ports user-defined macros, instead of the switch VSA. This allows
you to remove unsupported configurations on the authenticator switch port and to change the port
mode from access to trunk. For more information, see the Auto Smartports Configuration Guide for
this release.
For more information, see the “Configuring an Authenticator and a Supplicant Switch with NEAT”
section on page 1-69.
Voice Aware 802.1x Security
You use the voice aware 802.1x security feature to configure the switch to disable only the VLAN on
which a security violation occurs, whether it is a data or voice VLAN. In previous releases, when an
attempt to authenticate the data client caused a security violation, the entire port shut down, resulting in
a complete loss of connectivity.
You can use this feature in IP phone deployments where a PC is connected to the IP phone. A security
violation found on the data VLAN results in the shutdown of only the data VLAN. The traffic on the
voice VLAN flows through the switch without interruption.
For information on configuring voice aware 802.1x security, see the “Configuring Voice Aware 802.1x
Security” section on page 1-42.
1 Workstations (clients) 2 Supplicant switch (outside wiring closet)
3 Authenticator switch 4 Access control server (ACS)
5 Trunk port
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