Granting and denying network access has evolved beyond simple username and password verifications. Today, additional attributes related to users and their devices are used as decision criteria in determining authorized network access. Additionally, network service provisioning can be based on data such as the type of device accessing the network, including whether it is a corporate or personal device.
The Cisco® Secure Network Server is a scalable solution that helps network administrators meet complex
network access control demands by managing the many different operations that can place heavy loads on applications and servers, including:

- Authorization and authentication requests
- Queries to identity stores such as Active Directory (on-premise or Azure), LDAP, and other databases
- API queries to fetch attributes from third-party systems (such as ServiceNow)
- Device profiling and compliance checking
- Enforcement actions to remove devices from the network
- Reporting

The Cisco Secure Network Server is based on the Cisco UCS® C220 Rack Server and is configured specifically to support the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) security application. The Secure Network Server supports these applications in three versions. The Cisco Secure Network Server 3715 is designed for small deployments. The Secure Network Server 3755 and 3795 have several redundant components such as hard disks and power supplies, making it suitable for larger deployments that require highly reliable system configurations.