RADIUS

The Remote Authentication Dial-in User Service (RADIUS) protocol is a popular method for managing remote user authentication and authorization. RADIUS is a lightweight, UDP-based protocol. RADIUS servers can be located anywhere on the Internet and provide authentication (including PPP PAP, CHAP, MS-CHAP, MS-CHAP v2, and EAP) and authorization for access servers such as NASes and VPN servers.
In addition, RADIUS servers can provide a proxy service to forward authentication requests to distant RADIUS servers. For example, many ISPs have joined consortia to allow roaming subscribers to use local services from the nearest ISP for dial-up access to the Internet. These roaming alliances take advantage of the RADIUS proxy service. If an ISP recognizes a user name as being a subscriber to a remote network, the ISP uses a RADIUS proxy to forward the access request to the appropriate network.