ZyXEL ES-3148 Guida Utente

ES-3148 User’s Guide

This chapter describes how to configure authentication and accounting settings on the Switch.

Authentication is the process of determining who a user is and validating access to the Switch. 
The Switch can authenticate users who try to log in based on user accounts configured on the 
Switch itself. The Switch can also use an external authentication server to authenticate a large 
number of users
Authorization is the process of determining what a user is allowed to do. Different user 
accounts may have higher or lower privilege levels associated with them. For example, user A 
may have the right to create new login accounts on the Switch but user B cannot. The Switch 
can authorize users based on user accounts configured on the Switch itself or it can use an 
external server to authorize a large number of users.
Accounting is the process of recording what a user is doing. The Switch can use an external 
server to track when users log in, log out, execute commands and so on. Accounting can also 
record system related actions such as boot up and shut down times of the Switch.   
The external servers that perform authentication, authorization and accounting functions are 
known as AAA servers. The Switch supports RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User 
Service, see 

) and TACACS+ (Terminal Access Controller Access-

Control System Plus, see 

) as external authentication, authorization 

and accounting servers. 

Figure 93   AAA Server 

By storing user profiles locally on the Switch, your Switch is able to authenticate and 
authorize users without interacting with a network AAA server. However, there is a limit on 
the number of users you may authenticate in this way (See