1.4. Pre-Admission NAC

Pre-Admission NAC relates to NAC technology that performs an assessment prior to allowing access to a network. When most companies I speak to think of NAC, this is the technology to which they commonly refer.

The idea of Pre-Admission NAC is fairly simple. Assess a device against a predetermined set of criteria prior to allowing full access to the network. If those criteria are not met, then don't allow the device onto the network, or restrict the device in some manner. Commonly, you will see Pre-Admission NAC in the following solutions:

• Microsoft NAP

• Cisco NAC

• Mobile NAC

• IPSec VPN concentrators

• SSL VPN concentrators

Figure 1-1 shows a graphical representation of Pre-Admission NAC.

Figure 1-1. Pre-Admission NAC example