The HP FlexFabric switch must be configured to utilize an authentication server for the purpose of authenticating privilege users, managing accounts, and to centrally verify authentication settings and Personal Identity Verification (PIV) credentials.

To assure accountability and prevent unauthenticated access, organizational administrators must be uniquely identified and authenticated for all network management accesses to prevent potential misuse and compromise of the system. Protecting access authorization information ensures that authorization information cannot be altered, spoofed, or otherwise compromised during transmission.

The use of authentication servers or other centralized management servers for providing centralized authentication services is required for network device management. Maintaining local administrator accounts for daily usage on each network device without centralized management is not scalable or feasible. Without centralized management, it is likely that credentials for some network devices will be forgotten, leading to delays in administration, which itself leads to delays in remediating production problems.