Cisco 500 Series Administration Manual page 489

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Security: 802.1X Authentication
Authenticator Overview
When an authentication method finishes successfully for a client authenticated by
an authentication method with a lower priority, the attributes of the new
authentication method are applied. When the new method fails, the client is left
authorized with the old method.
802.1x-Based Authentication
The 802.1x-based authenticator relays transparent EAP messages between
802.1x supplicants and authentication servers. The EAP messages between
supplicants and the authenticator are encapsulated into the 802.1x messages, and
the EAP messages between the authenticator and authentication servers are
encapsulated into the RADIUS messages.
This is described in the following:
Figure 3 802.1x-Based Authentication
MAC-Based Authentication
MAC-based authentication is an alternative to 802.1X authentication that allows
network access to devices (such as printers and IP phones) that do not have the
802.1X supplicant capability. MAC-based authentication uses the MAC address of
the connecting device to grant or deny network access.
487 Cisco 500 Series Stackable Managed Switch Administration Guide