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Cisco NAC Guest Server facilitates the creation of guest accounts for temporary network access by permitting any internal user to sponsor a guest and create the guest account in a simple and secure manner. In addition, the whole process is recorded in a single place and stored for later reporting, including details of the network access activity.
Cisco NAC Guest Server is ideal for organizations that may need to provide Internet access to visiting customers and partners. Productivity demands and advances in mobility have transformed enterprises into major "hot spots." The Cisco NAC Guest Server can vastly simplify the process of offering guest access accounts in a simple, secure, and flexible way.
Cisco NAC Guest Server provides the ability for sponsors-employees of the host company-to create guest accounts. Sponsors are authenticated against the Web interface on the guest server and are granted permissions based upon their role. The administrator decides which policies should be applied against each user role.
Authentication of the sponsor is performed against either an internal user account database defined by the administrator, or against the organization's Active Directory implementation. Sponsors are assigned to a role based upon the groups they belong to in Active Directory or they are assigned to a user on a local database. Sponsors can be given role-based permissions to create accounts, edit accounts, suspend accounts and run reporting. These permissions can be granted to only accounts they created, all accounts, or not granted at all.
Cisco NAC Guest Server creates accounts based upon the policy established for both usernames and passwords. Usernames can be based on the guest's e-mail address, first/last name, or a completely random username based upon a length and complexity that the administrator sets. Passwords can also be created based upon the length and complexity required by corporate authentication policies.
Accounts are provisioned into the integrated database in the Cisco NAC Guest Server. From here they can be automatically provisioned and managed on the Cisco NAC Appliance Manager, or authenticated by Cisco wireless LAN controllers.
Passing user account details to a guest can be performed in many different ways, all of which are completely configurable by the administrator. Access details can be printed as a hard copy to hand to guests, sent as an e-mail prior to their arrival, or transmitted by SMS text message to guests' mobile phones. This enables an additional level of security by auditing who was provided with the details.
Regardless of how access details are given, the content is fully customizable. Administrators can add details such as additional instructions or an acceptable use policy for guests to acknowledge.
Cisco NAC Guest Server integrates with Cisco NAC Appliance through its API. This way the guest accounts can be controlled directly on the guest server, including creation, editing, suspension, and deletion of accounts. The Cisco NAC Guest Server then controls these accounts on the Cisco NAC Appliance Manager through its API. In addition the guest server receives accounting information from the NAC solution to enable full reporting of the entire experience.
Cisco NAC Guest Server integrates with Cisco wireless LAN controllers through the RADIUS protocol. This way the guest accounts are controlled directly on the guest server, including creation, editing, and deletion of accounts. The wireless LAN controller need only be pointed toward the guest server to authenticate guest users. In addition the guest server receives accounting information from the wireless LAN controller to enable full reporting of the entire experience.
The Cisco NAC Guest Server is a standalone component that can be added to Cisco NAC or wireless deployments to integrate secure guest access. The guest server houses the database and provides an integrated Web server to permit access to both the sponsor and administrator's user interfaces. It integrates with the Cisco NAC Appliance or Cisco wireless LAN controller to provide the network access.
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