@Lee-Brooks said in Are RADIUS servers still used nowadays?:
Hi,
After watching your episodes on networking services I'm wondering if RADIUS servers are still commonly used nowadays? My experience is that organisations tend to use VPN for remote access instead of older dial-up RAS systems.
Also, am I correct in thinking that VPN connections generally use the inbuilt functionality of a router (acting as a VPN concentrator) and integrate with active directory for authentication, authorisation and accounting (in a Windows environment) meaning you don't actually need a RADIUS server?
RADIUS Servers are still out there and even though dial=up is not used as often it once was. It is still a way to offload authentication away from the device you're using as an access portal.
The functionality you're referring to believe it or is still using RADIUS but under the Microsoft proprietary name of NPS (Network Policy Server). It still RADIUS.
You also tend to see this in implementations of IEEE 802.1x for limiting wireless access using certificates installed on wireless clients. It's still a large part of networks.
For years, I've used a pfSense firewall for OpenVPN access and had users connect to the LDAP server (Active Directory) for authentication. It's essentially using the same principle as RADIUS even if the name is different. This allowed for users to establish the VPN connection and their logon for the domain identical.
