Q-Logic SANBOX2-16 Manuel D’Utilisation

59022-11 A

3-1

Managing Fabrics

This section describes the following tasks that manage fabrics:

„

„

„

„

„

„

„

Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) provides a method to 
centralize the management of authentication passwords in larger networks. It has 
a client/server model, where the server is the password repository and third party 
authentication point and the clients are all of the managed devices. RADIUS can 
be configured for devices and/or user accounts. The RADIUS server dialogs are 
available only on a secure fabric connection (SSL) and on the entry switch (out of 
band switch). Refer to 

 and 

 for more information. 

RADIUS is designed to authenticate users and devices using a 
challenge/response protocol. Basic implementations consist of a central RADIUS 
server containing a database of authorized users as well as authentication 
information. A RADIUS client wishing to verify the authenticity of a user issues a 
challenge to the user and collects the response to the challenge. This information 
is forwarded to the RADIUS server for authentication and the server responds 
with the results, either an accept or reject. The RADIUS client does not need to be 
configured with any user authentication information, this all resides on the 
RADIUS server and can be managed centrally and separately from the clients. In 
addition, no passwords are exchanged between the RADIUS server and its 
clients. Authentication of requests from a RADIUS client to the server and 
responses from the server to a client can also be authenticated. This requires 
sharing a secret between the server and client. The accounting RADIUS supports 
the auditing of the users and switch services such as Telnet, FTP, and switch 
management applications.