User's Manual

AAA Framework
W-ClearPass Guest is built on the industry standard AAA framework, which consists of authentication,
authorization, and accounting components.
The following figure shows how the different components of this framework are employed in a guest access
scenario.
Figure 4 Sequence diagram for network access using AAA
In the standard AAA framework, network access is provided to a user according to the following process:
l The user connects to the network by associating with a local access point [1].
l A landing page is displayed to the user [2] which allows them to log in to the NAS [3], [4] using the login
name and password of their guest account.
l The NAS authenticates the user with the RADIUS protocol [5].
l W-ClearPass Policy Manager determines whether the user is authorized, and, if so, returns vendor-specific
attributes [6] that are used to configure the NAS based on the user’s role and other policies [7].
l If the user’s access is granted, the NAS permits the guest access to the network based on the settings
provided by the W-ClearPass Policy Manager server.
l The NAS reports details about the user’s session to the W-ClearPass Policy Manager server using RADIUS
accounting messages [8].
l After the user’s session times out [9], the NAS will return the user to an unauthorized state and finalize the
details of the user’s session with an accounting update [10].
Dell Networking W-ClearPass Guest 6.4 | User Guide W-ClearPass Guest Overview | 23