Describe 802.1x authentication.

What will be an ideal response?

802.1x authentication involves three main participants: the supplicant, authenticator, and authentication server. The supplicant is the station that requests access through the authenticator, which is usually an AP in wireless networks. The authenticator passes the request to the authentication server, which stores the credentials of authorized users. An important strength of 802.1x is that the supplicant never communicates directly with the authentication server, thus reducing the chance of compromising sensitive data stored on the server.