User’s Manual of GS-5220 LCD Series
364
Figure 4-11-1
Client—the device (workstation) that requests access to the LAN and switch services and
responds to requests from the switch. The workstation must be running 802.1X-compliant client
software such as that offered in the Microsoft Windows XP operating system. (The client is the
supplicant in the IEEE 802.1X specification.)
Authentication server—performs the actual authentication of the client. The authentication server
validates the identity of the client and notifies the switch whether or not the client is authorized to
access the LAN and switch services. Because the switch acts as the proxy, the authentication service is
transparent to the client. In this release, the Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS)
security system with Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) extensions is the only supported
authentication server; it is available in Cisco Secure Access Control Server version 3.0. RADIUS operates
in a client/server model in which secure authentication information is exchanged between the RADIUS
server and one or more RADIUS clients.