The goal of this project was to identify which AAA server would be the best fit for the company to implement in its network environment. This has been done through an investigation of three AAA protocols RADIUS, TACACS+ and Diameter. The method for carrying out the project has been to produce a list of requirements with the company with goals and milestones during the course of the work. Information about the work has mostly been gathered from previous course literature and from publications of the Internet Engineering Task Force. With this knowledge, a comparison was created between these three mentioned AAA protocols and a topology of how login to network equipment changes. A test environment with the selected AAA protocol was set up to evaluate its functionality. The result of this is reported in the form of login attempts against three switches with different makes. A discussion of the project's results, the project method, ethical and environmental aspects, as well as economic aspects are discussed at the end of the report. / Målet med detta projekt var att identifiera vilken AAA-server som skulle passa bäst för företaget att implementera i sin nätverksmiljö. Detta har gjorts genom en undersökning av tre AAA-protokoll RADIUS, TACACS+ och Diameter. Metoden för att utföra projektet har varit att ta fram en kravlista med företaget med mål och milstolpar under arbetets gång. Information om arbetet har mestadels samlats in från tidigare kurslitteratur och från publikationer från Internet Engineering Task Force. Med denna kunskap skapades en jämförelse mellan dessa tre nämnda AAA-protokoll och en topologi över hur inloggning mot nätverksutrustning förändras. En testmiljö med det valda AAA-protokollet sattes upp för att utvärdera dess funktionalitet. Resultatet av detta redovisas i form av inloggningsförsök mot tre switchar med olika fabrikat. En diskussion om projektets resultat, projektmetoden, etiska- och miljöaspekter, samt ekonomiska aspekter diskuteras i slutet av rapporten.

<p>The need for AAA protocols in the world are increasing and todays most common protocols RADIUS and TACACS+, cannot cope with the fast advances in fields benefiting from the use of AAA protocols. This is why IETF has developed the protocol Diameter as a next generations AAA protocol. The objective of this thesis is to account for the work conducted with Diameter as well as to determine if it is going to become the major AAA protocol of the next generation. In this thesis, I describe what Diameter is, its close integration with the Mobile IP protocol and its other uses. As Diameter is based on RADIUS an introduction to AAA and RADIUS is given in order to comprehend where we are today and where we are going as well as to why. I also compare today’s protocols (RADIUS, TACACS+, Kerberos and COPS) against the next generations AAA protocol Diameter. From this comparison, the Mobile IP integration capabilities and an analysis of the support of the Diameter protocol I have come to the conclusion that Diameter is going to become the major AAA protocol of the next generation.</p>

The need for AAA protocols in the world are increasing and todays most common protocols RADIUS and TACACS+, cannot cope with the fast advances in fields benefiting from the use of AAA protocols. This is why IETF has developed the protocol Diameter as a next generations AAA protocol. The objective of this thesis is to account for the work conducted with Diameter as well as to determine if it is going to become the major AAA protocol of the next generation. In this thesis, I describe what Diameter is, its close integration with the Mobile IP protocol and its other uses. As Diameter is based on RADIUS an introduction to AAA and RADIUS is given in order to comprehend where we are today and where we are going as well as to why. I also compare today’s protocols (RADIUS, TACACS+, Kerberos and COPS) against the next generations AAA protocol Diameter. From this comparison, the Mobile IP integration capabilities and an analysis of the support of the Diameter protocol I have come to the conclusion that Diameter is going to become the major AAA protocol of the next generation.