Authenticating a networking appliance attempting to attach to a network includes receiving a request from the networking appliance to attach to the network, wherein the request comprises credential data associated with the networking appliance and a certificate authority (CA) certificate associated with the computer; receiving at least one value associated with an identity of the networking appliance; and authenticating the identity of the networking appliance based on both a) the at least one value associated with the identity of the networking appliance; and b) the appliance certificate.