802.1X Authentication

ICX devices support the IEEE 802.1X standard for authenticating devices attached to LAN ports. Using 802.1X, you can configure an ICX device to grant access to a port based on information supplied by a client to an authentication server.

When a user logs in to a network that uses 802.1X, the ICX device grants (or does not grant) access to network services after the user is authenticated by an authentication server. The user-based authentication in 802.1X provides an alternative to granting network access based on a user IP address, MAC address, or subnetwork.

The ICX implementation of 802.1X supports the following RFCs:

  • RFC 2284 PPP Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)
  • RFC 2865 Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS)
  • RFC 2869 RADIUS Extensions

In this section:

  1. Device Roles in an 802.1X Configuration
  2. Communication Between the Devices
  3. Controlled and Uncontrolled Ports
  4. Port Control for Authentication
  5. Message Exchange During Authentication
  6. How 802.1X host authentication works for multiple clients
    When multiple hosts are connected to a single 802.1X-enabled port on a RUCKUS device, 802.1X authentication is performed in the following way.
Parent topic: Flexible Authentication