Dell PowerConnect 5212 Addendum to the User's Guide - Page 8

Y1836bk0.book Page 6 Tuesday, July 15, 2003 12:55 PM www.dell.com | support.dell.com 802.1x Port Configuration Page The 802.1x protocol includes parameters that control the client authentication process that runs between the client and the switch (that is, authenticator), as well as the client identity lookup process that runs between the switch and authentication server. The 802.1x Port Configuration page allows you to enable and configure the 802.1x authentication mode and parameters for each port. The page contains the following editable fields: • Mode - Sets a port's authentication mode to one of the following options: - Auto - Requires an 802.1x-aware client to be authorized by the authentication server. Clients that are not 802.1x-aware will be denied access. - Force-Authorized - Forces the port to grant access to all clients, 802.1x-aware or otherwise. (This is the default setting.) - Force-Unauthorized - Forces the port to deny access to all clients, 802.1x-aware or otherwise. • Re-authen - Sets the client to be reauthenticated after the interval specified by the Reauthen/Period. During the reauthentication process of verifying the user ID and password on the RADIUS server, the client remains connected to the network. Only if reauthentication fails is the port blocked. Reauthentication can be used to detect if a new device is plugged into a switch port. (Default: Disabled) • Max Req - Sets the maximum number of times the switch port will retransmit an EAP request packet to the client before it times out the authentication session. (Range: 1-10; Default 2) • Quiet/Period - Sets the time that a switch port waits after the Max Req count has been exceeded before attempting to acquire a new client. (Range: 1-65,535 seconds; Default: 60 seconds) • Re-authen/Period - Sets the time period after which a connected client must be reauthenticated. (Range: 1-65,535 seconds; Default: 3600 seconds) • TX Period - Sets the time period during an authentication session that the switch waits before retransmitting an EAP packet. (Range: 1-65,535; Default: 30 seconds) The 802.1x Port Configuration page also displays the following information for each port: • Status - Indicates if authentication is enabled or disabled on the port. • Authorized - Port's current authentication status: - Yes - The connected client is authorized. - No - The connected client is not authorized. - [Blank] - Displays nothing when 802.1x is disabled on a port. • Supplicant - MAC address of a connected client. • Trunk - Indicates if the port is configured as a trunk port. 6 Documentation Update