Allied Telesis AT-S63 User Manual

AT-S63 Management Software Features Guide

Section IX: Management Security

419

The AT-S63 Management Software allows for encrypted SSH 
management sessions between a management station and a master 
switch of an enhanced stack, but not with slave switches, as explained in 
this section.

When you remotely manage a slave switch, all management 
communications are conducted through the master switch using the 
enhanced stacking feature. Management packets from your workstation 
are first directed to the master switch before being forwarded to the slave 
switch. The reverse is true as well. Management packets from a slave 
switch first pass through the master switch before reaching your 
management station.

Enhanced stacking uses a proprietary protocol different from Telnet and 
SSH protocols. Consequently, there is no encryption between a master 
switch and a slave switch. The result is that SSH encryption only occurs 
between your workstation and the master switch, not between your 
workstation and a slave switch.

This is illustrated in Figure 46. The figure shows an SSH management 
station that is managing a slave switch of an enhanced stack. The packets 
exchanged between the slave switch and the master switch are 
transmitted in plaintext and those exchanged between the master switch 
and the SSH management station are encrypted

Figure 46  SSH Remote Management of a Slave Switch

Plaintext Management Packets
(Proprietary Enhanced Stacking Protocol)

Encrypted Management Packets
(SSH Protocol)

Slave Switch

Master Switch

SSH 
Management
Workstation