ZyWALL 110/310/1100 Series User’s Guide
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AAA Server
31.1 Overview
You can use a AAA (Authentication, Authorization, Accounting) server to provide access control to
your network. The AAA server can be a Active Directory, LDAP, or RADIUS server. Use the AAA
Server screens to create and manage objects that contain settings for using AAA servers. You use
AAA server objects in configuring ext-group-user user objects and authentication method objects
(see
31.1.1 Directory Service (AD/LDAP)
LDAP/AD allows a client (the ZyWALL) to connect to a server to retrieve information from a
directory. A network example is shown next.
Figure 263
Example: Directory Service Client and Server
The following describes the user authentication procedure via an LDAP/AD server.
1
A user logs in with a user name and password pair.
2
The ZyWALL tries to bind (or log in) to the LDAP/AD server.
3
When the binding process is successful, the ZyWALL checks the user information in the directory
against the user name and password pair.
4
If it matches, the user is allowed access. Otherwise, access is blocked.
31.1.2 RADIUS Server
RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) authentication is a popular protocol used to
authenticate users by means of an external server instead of (or in addition to) an internal device
user database that is limited to the memory capacity of the device. In essence, RADIUS
authentication allows you to validate a large number of users from a central location.