What is one efficient way to improve the reaction time to a RADIUS server failure?

By default it will take 10 seconds for authentication to fail due to an unresponsive RADIUS server before a Cisco Nexus series switch reverts to another RADIUS server or local authentication.

What is one efficient way to improve the reaction time to a RADIUS server failure?
A . Decrease the global RADIUS retransmission count to 1.
B . Decrease the global RADIUS timeout interval to 5 seconds.
C . Configure the RADIUS retransmission count and timeout interval per server, versus globally.
D . Configure per server a test idle timer, along with a username and password.

View Answer

Answer: D

Explanation: You can monitor the availability of RADIUS servers. These parameters include the username and password to use for the server and an idle timer. The idle timer specifies the interval during which a RADIUS server receives no requests before the Nexus 5000 Series switch sends out a test packet. You can configure this option to test servers periodically. The test idle timer specifies the interval during which a RADIUS server receives no requests before the Nexus 5000 Series switch sends out a test packet. The default idle timer value is 0 minutes. When the idle time interval is 0 minutes, the Nexus 5000 Series switch does not perform periodic RADIUS server monitoring.

Reference: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus5000/sw/configuration/guide/cli_rel_4_0_1a/CLIConfigurationGuide/sec_radius.html