Dell N3200-ON EMC Networking N-Series Switches User Guide version 6.6.3 - Page 352

As shown in Figure 9-3, the Dell EMC Networking switch is the authenticator and ensures that the supplicant (a PC) that is attached to an 802.1Xcontrolled port is authenticated by an authentication server (a RADIUS server). The result of the authentication process determines whether the supplicant is authorized to access network services on that controlled port. Dell EMC Networking N-Series switches support 802.1X authentication using remote RADIUS or using a local authentication service (IAS). Supported security methods for supplicant communication with remote authentication servers include MD5, PEAP, EAP-TTL, EAP-TTLS, and EAPTLS. Only EAP-MD5 is supported when using the local authentication server (IAS) for communication with the supplicant. For a list of RADIUS attributes that the switch supports, see "Using RADIUS" on page 303. What are the 802.1X Port Authentication Modes? The 802.1X port authentication mode determines whether to allow or prevent network traffic on the port. A port can configured to be in one of the following 802.1X authentication modes: • Auto (default) • Force-authorized • Force-unauthorized These modes control the behavior of the port. The port state is either Authorized or Unauthorized. 802.1X auto mode may be configured on ports in general or access mode. 802.1X is not supported on trunk mode ports. If the port is in the force-authorized mode, the port state is Authorized and the port sends and receives normal traffic without client port-based authentication. When a port is in a forced-unauthorized mode, the port state is Unauthorized and the port ignores supplicant authentication attempts and does not provide authentication services. By default, when 802.1X is globally enabled on the switch, all ports are in auto authentication mode, which means the port will be unauthorized until a successful authentication exchange has taken place. 352 Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting