CISCO RADIUS OPTIONS

[maczen]

After determining that there are no real options in regard to Cisco licensing for academic Cisco Security aspirees I was forced to look at other options in regard to Radius/Tacacs+. Basically, I have found the best option to be investing in an inexpensive server and running a free/academic OS that supports Radius. Here are the options I have discovered thus far. Please feel free to elaborate on plausible free or academically priced solutions that would meet this criteria.

Option 1
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Academic Server Edition
This is only $60 per year and includes an annual subscription to the Red Hat Network.. Sweet! This option allows you to run a FreeRadius solution and all you need to qualify is an active .edu email account.

http://www.redhat.com/solutions/education/academic/individual/

Option 2
Windows Server 2008 Standard
This will allow you to run various Radius solutions and costs a one time fee of $115 plus you pay $8 per user as well as $8 per device... This is a pretty nice deal for Windows Server 2008 and you can opt to use 2003 if you would prefer to do so for some reason... This can be purchased from any authorized academic provider like

http://swexpress.com

or perhaps even your school's software store...

I was unable to locate any good info on Novell Netware 6.5 Academic licensing but that would be another good solution for NAS Radius as well... I will also check into various free *Nix distros but wanted to focus on Academic solutions first.. Once again please feel free to add any good FREE solutions for those who are not currently enrolled in a school...

HARDWARE:
I thought that I would elaborate on the hardware for this approach.. All that is needed is an inexpensive server that meets/exceeds the requirements of the OS that you select.. That said, there are several inexpensive options in this regard so I will try to list those that I have come across thus far!

Dell PowerEdge Options:
1750
1760
2550
2650
6600
6650

Compaq/HP Options: (Windows or Linux)
DL360 G2
DL360 G3
DL360 G4 (Getting pricey)

IBM eSeries
I have not researched these very much yet but there are some PIII options with dual 1GHZ and 1GIG RAM that would run a *Nix server very well for a home lab and they are inexpensive)

Sun SunFire Options: (This will run Solaris, OpenSolaris or Linux)
*I have not found a good means of running FreeRadius on OpenSolaris but have seen many posts in regard to doing to on Solaris 10... OpenSolaris and Solaris 10 are both free downloads.. new version of Solaris 10 comes out later this month)
V100
V120

Curious if anyone has any experience with Radius/FreeRadius on an Apple xServe with Mac OSX Server.. This is another possibility as you sometimes see the G5 xServe cluster server go for around $500 on eBay.. slightly more expensive than most of the other IBM compatibles listed here but would be a good area to get into..

RECAP:
No academic/free means of certification study material currently exists in regard to Radius or Tacacs+ study from Cisco. I am offering other options (inexpensive options) for the aspiring student and hope that more options will present themself.. Especially free options that do not require academic proof (to help out those non-students who are trying to certify)! I am just basically trying to share the wealth (as little as there may be.. lol) that I have gained in researching this... Looking forward to comments, ideas and suggestions... Oh and before anyone says anything about the Cisco Networking Academy please read the Agree or Disagree post in this forum as it covers in detail and links to another thread/forum where what Cisco offers and does not offer is covered in detail. I hope this helps!!!

B Haines
CCNA R&S, ETA FOI

 

[CiscoGuy33]

Billy,

As far as hardware, I am not sure why you need a Dell PowerEdge, I am running Server 2003 and Advanced server on 2 Dell Optiplex 260s with 1 GIG of RAM. This is in a security lab we have setup at the college, I would not want to run these in production, but for a lab I am not sure why you would need a Dell PowerEdge.

You can find these on Ebay for about $100 or at Tiger Direct/CompUSA for about $200.

We have ALWAYS taught Microsoft server classes with Optiplexs since this is not production where you want dual power supplies and a hardware RAID setup.

Just some thoughts!


E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[maczen]

Good point CiscoG.. The prices for many of these systems have come down drastically in recent times.. You can get a PowerEdge 1750 or 2550 for around $100 on eBay if you take the time... In fact, I bought a PowerEdge 6650 for $160 after shipping (that is just because I had to have it!! LoL) That is why I mentioned the PowerEdge but again you make a good point. OptiPlex is a good alternative and could potentially save some money!!! Now if I can locate some FREE FreeRadius solutions to throw on that OptiPlex!!! LoL

B Haines
CCNA R&S, ETA FOI

 

[maczen]

I have located a pretty good looking FREE option as far as a server OS goes with FreeRadius support!!!

OpenSuse

http://www.opensuse.org/en/

OpenSuse Download Link:

http://software.opensuse.org/

OpenSuse FreeRadius

http://software.opensuse.org/search?q=radius

The last time I used Suse (this was actually the first Linux distro I ever bought) it had zero Gnome support and was strictly KDE.. Times have changed and although I am completely unfamiliar with OpenSuse I can assure you that A)It has Gnome.. LoL and B)There are a plethora of FreeRadius applications.. FreeRadius, PAM (Client app) and Admin-Dialup for MySQL (Another cool Novell network thingy.. LoL) are all included.. Although this can be compiled for pretty much any Linux distro.. OpenSuse was designed to run on a server and that makes a difference in my mind at least.. I am definitely far from being an expert and still looking for other options here so please feel free to post guys!!!

B Haines
CCNA R&S, ETA FOI

 

[maczen]

By the way.. I would absolutely love a good link for FreeRadius on a Solaris or OpenSolaris box!!!

B Haines
CCNA R&S, ETA FOI

 

[maczen]

Here is a "half-way" possibility...

TurboLinux

http://www.turbolinux.com/products/starterkit.html

Unfortunately, I can not find anything in regard to an academic discount, however, they have a "starter kit" that does not expire (you lose updates after 30 days though)

If the server will not be accessing the internet then this may be an option.. your call! If anyone has any info on TurboLinux academic discounting then please share!!

By the way this is one of the absolute coolest distros I have seen although I believe they are in league with Microsoft.. LoL The entire security section of the site lists Firefox/Thunderbird vulnerabilities etc...

B Haines
CCNA R&S, ETA FOI

 

[maczen]

I sent the following email to SCO Unix in regard to OpenServer and their other server solutions.. Will let you know of their response.

"I am researching academic discounts for server software capable of providing a Radius solution. I know that SCO Unix has Radius support but was wondering if there is a discount offered to students who wish to obtain OpenServer or other products and if so how much this software will cost to run at home in my home lab."

B Haines
CCNA R&S, ETA FOI

 

[maczen]

I want to throw two more good FREE Linux server options out there for everyone...

CentOS

http://www.centos.org/

Ubuntu Server Edition

http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/serveredition

Now we have a plethora of server options with which we can run FreeRadius for our Cisco Security labs... I am definitely interested in other hardware/software recommendations as well as any comments on the products mentioned thus far..

For instance, I have not mentioned the IBM xSeries servers... such as the IBM xSeries 445 with dual 2.4GHZ processors and 2 GIGs RAM that I watched go for $200 yesterday on eBay.. Should be able to run pretty much any of these Linux distros on this server and the xSeries 330 generally goes for under $100 on eBay... Any and all info is welcome as this thread is to be a repository for those hoping to break into the server world or looking to buy their first server! Plus wondering what software or OS to run on it and what options are available...

B Haines
CCNA R&S, ETA FOI

 

[maczen]

Lastly, a slightly more expensive option for someone looking to go all out... This server will end up running someone around a grand but it would be nice...

You can buy an IBM 8677-2XX Chassis on eBay for under $500
The JS-20 Blades are normally expensive but there are three listed on eBay right now... was four but one went for $27 a few minutes ago... Each of these JS-20's are a 2x 2-Way PowerPC 970 2.2Ghz 1U Blade Center (RISC processing)... You would have to put everything into the chassis as well.. power supplies, RAM, HDDs ETC. and would probably be at around $1000 after doing this but.. well, I was tempted for just a sec to buy the JS-20's, sit on them for a few, and build up the rest.. kinda like when I built my first PC.. LoL

Anyway, I just thought that I would put this out there.. I know it's a tad off-topic but would make a nice addition to anyone's home lab!!!

oh, and here is a link to the info for all of the aforementioned components (pretty much everything including the compatible OS's and even a rack.. LoL (I REALLY like the way IBM puts everything together in one place when it comes to a product.. I really wish Cisco would do this! IE. Cisco 2811 product page plus links to EVERY module, links to IOS info and all software that will run on it! Would be nice!

http://www-304.ibm.com/systems/supp...ocdisplay?brandind=5000008&lndocid=MIGR-53431

If anyone gets one of these for the house I will be VERY jealous!!! LoL I am still happy with the 6650 I just bought but it's quad processors and CISC processing can't hang with this badboy!!!

B Haines
CCNA R&S, ETA FOI

 

[maczen]

One last possibility in regard to a FREE or low cost server OS is FreeBSD...

FreeBSD

http://www.freebsd.org/

FreeBSD has support for KDE, Gnome as well as the commercial CDE... Here is a link to the Gnome side of the GUI world.. There is even a cool tool that will tell you why Gnome didn't install correctly on this page if you are having trouble...

http://www.freebsd.org/gnome/

Lastly, here is a cool link discussing FreeRadius on a series of BSD systems where one system is the Radius server.. another is the NAS (Network Access Server) and the other is the client system.. Pretty cool but Cisco products can be substituted for the NAS and switch and your laptop can potentially play the client role...

http://caia.swin.edu.au/reports/040220A/

Hope this helps!!!

Still looking for any advice, info or anything else in regard to all of this stuff!!! I feel like I am rambling on at this point!!! LoL Really enthusiastic about this stuff!!

B Haines
CCNA R&S, ETA FOI

 

[HuckaFinn]

maczen/all,

Hello's and thank you's are in order to all in the tek-tips forums as is customary for a first post. I've discovered this forum primarily through current struggles learning Nortel Passport 8010/BS450.

Maczen, I'd like to add to your thread my 2cents. Gentoo works quite well, though a steep learning curve, some might say.

http://www.gentoo.org/

Thought I'd throw it out there. I've run it on just about anything I can get me hands on. A search on the 445 is actually what brought me to this thread(thinking of getting one myself).

 

[burtsbees]

Gentoo and Ubuntu are great learner OS's. After all, Ubuntu is African for "I can't install Debian"...

Burt

 

[maczen]

LoL Burt..

I think Gentoo is probably the most difficult Linux distro to get going.. Was never able to get a Stage1 Gentoo install when I tried back in the day. Have been meaning to take another shot at it. I imagine that a Stage3 is MUCH easier.. and the distro has probably excelled much in the last couple of years!

Thanks for the info Huckafinn! I may have to give Gentoo a shot. I have been planning on buying a used Tough Book and that would be just the OS to play with there.. How is Gentoo now in regard to Wireless support?

B Haines
CCNA R&S, ETA FOI