Netgear GSM7224v2 - 24-Port Layer 2 Managed Gigabit Switch Manuel D’Utilisation

operation of a switch’s ports to be controlled in order to ensure that access to its services is 
only permitted by systems that are authorized to do so.

Port access control provides a means of preventing unauthorized access by supplicants to 
the services offered by a system. Control over the access to a switch and the LAN to which it 
is connected can be desirable in order to restrict access to publicly accessible bridge ports or 
to restrict access to departmental LANs.

Access control is achieved by enforcing authentication of supplicants that are attached to an 
authenticator's controlled ports. The result of the authentication process determines whether 
the supplicant is authorized to access services on that controlled port.

A Port Access Entity (PAE) is able to adopt one of two distinct roles within an access control 
interaction:

Authenticator: A Port that enforces authentication before allowing access to services 
available via that Port.

Supplicant: A Port that attempts to access services offered by the Authenticator.

Additionally, there exists a third role:

Authentication server: Performs the authentication function necessary to check the 
credentials of the Supplicant on behalf of the Authenticator.

All three roles are required in order to complete an authentication exchange.

Gigabit L3 switches support the Authenticator role only, in which the PAE is responsible for 
communicating with the Supplicant. The Authenticator PAE is also responsible for submitting 
the information received from the Supplicant to the Authentication Server in order for the 
credentials to be checked, which will determine the authorization state of the Port. The 
Authenticator PAE controls the authorized/unauthorized state of the controlled Port 
depending on the outcome of the RADIUS-based authentication process.

Supplicant

Supplicant

Authenticator

Switch

Authentication

Server (RADIUS)
192.168.10.23