70-412 lesson 12 Configuring a Network Policy Server

Priority:

specifies the order of importance of the RADIUS server to the NPS proxy server. The lower the number, the higher priority the NPS proxy gives to the RADIUS server.

you can use certificates with the NPS ;

to provide strong security for authenticating users a computers and eliminate the need for less secure password-based authentication methods.

NPS supports RADIUS accounting:

which you can use to track network usage for auditing and billing purposes.

RADIUS accounting ,supported by NPS,

which you can use to track network usage for auditing and billing purposes.

if you have mulitiple RADIUS servers;

you can configure RADIUS clients to use a primary RADIUS server and alternate RADIUS servers. if the primary RADIUS server becomes unavailable, the request is sent to the alternate RADIUS server.

by installing and configuring RADIUS ;

you can create and enforce wide network access policies for client health, connection request authentication, and connection request authorization.

to configure load balancing;

you must have more than one RADIUS server per remote RADIUS server group. Based on load and resources, you can configure the following ; Priority , Weight, and Advanced settings .

RADIUS has been officially assigned UDP ports ;

1812 for RADIUS Authentication and 1813 for RADIUS Accounting by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). However before IANA officially allocated ports 1812 and 1813, ports 1645 and 1646 were used for authentication and accounting. RADIUS servers default to port 1812 and 1813 , others can still use 1645 and 1646. Therefore if the RADIUS server is separated by a firewall, you should open all four ports.

Weight:

NPS uses this Weight setting t determine how many connection requests to send to each group member when the group members have the same priority level. Weight is assigned a value between 1 and 100, and the value represents a percentage of 100%. If two servers are assigned the same priority and weight, the connection requests are distributed evenly between the two servers.

when you implement RADIUS ;

Windows computers running Routing and Remote Access and/or wireless access points can forward access requests to a single RADIUS server.

Authentication:

a process that confirms a user's identity, and the account is assigned permissions and rights that authorize the user to access resources and perform certain tasks on the computer .

RADIUS clients (also referred to as access servers):

are servers (such as servers running RRAS) and devices (such as wireless access points and 802.1X switch) that forward RADIUS requests to a RADIUS server.

NPS templates, sometimes referred as RADIUS templates;

enable you to create RADIUS configuration elements that can be reused on local NPS servers and can be exported to other NPS servers.

a RADIUS proxy :

forwards authentication and accounting messages to other RADIUS servers.

Advanced settings:

if the remote RADIUS server is unavailable, you can start sending connection requests to other group members. the Advanced settings determine when it considers the server is not available and sends the requests to the next RADIUS server.

Microsoft's RADIUS server :

is Network Policy Server (NPS)

Access client :

is a computer or a device that contacts or connects a RADIUS client, which requires authentication and authorization to connect.

Remote Authentication Dial-up User Service (RADIUS) ;

is a networking and client/server protocol that provides centralized authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) management for computers that connect and use a network service. it can be used in wireless and remote access connection technologies, 802.1x switches , and Remote Desktop Services Gateway.

Authorization:

is the process that determines what user is permitted to do on a computer system or network.

Accounting :

keeps track of what resources a user has accessed or attempted to access.