1-6
Security Overview
Access Security Features
RADIUS 
Authentication
disabled For each authorized client, RADIUS can be used to 
authenticate operator or manager access privileges on 
the switch via the serial port (CLI and Menu interface), 
Telnet, SSH, and Secure FTP/Secure Copy (SFTP/SCP) 
access methods. 
Chapter 6, “RADIUS 
Authentication and 
Accounting”
802.1X Access 
Control
none This feature provides port-based or user-based 
authentication through a RADIUS server to protect the 
switch from unauthorized access and to enable the use 
of RADIUS-based user profiles to control client access 
to network services. Included in the general features are 
the following:
• user-based access control supporting up to 32 
authenticated clients per port
• port-based access control allowing authentication 
by a single client to open the port
• switch operation as a supplicant for point-to-point 
connections to other 802.1X-compliant HP switches
Chapter 13 “Configuring 
Port-Based and User-Based 
Access Control (802.1X)”
Web and MAC 
Authentication
none These options are designed for application on the edge 
of a network to provide port-based security measures 
for protecting private networks and the switch itself 
from unauthorized access. Because neither method 
requires clients to run any special supplicant software, 
both are suitable for legacy systems and temporary 
access situations where introducing supplicant 
software is not an attractive option. 
Both methods rely on using a RADIUS server for 
authentication. This simplifies access security 
management by allowing you to control access from a 
master database in a single server. It also means the 
same credentials can be used for authentication, 
regardless of which switch or switch port is the current 
access point into the LAN. Web authentication uses a 
web page login to authenticate users for access to the 
network. MAC authentication grants access to a secure 
network by authenticating device MAC addresses for 
access to the network. 
Chapter 4, “Web and MAC 
Authentication”
Feature Default 
Setting
Security Guidelines More Information and 
Configuration Details