4. The identity-management server queries the appropriate authentication server based on the preconfigured policies. This query is in the server's native protocol. The server queries an LDAP server to determine whether user John Smith exists and if his password is legitimate.
5. The identity-management server returns a SAML assertion to the application. Once that the server has confirmed John Smith exists and that he has properly identified himself with the correct password, it sends the application a SAML assertion stating that John Smith is authenticated.
6. Now it's up to the application. The application can allow access or create a SAML request for authorization (which means going back to Step 4). In this example, however, the application will determine whether John Smith is authorized to access "jobpostings.html."
SAML was envisioned as a single sign-on method for Web browsing users.
Around the same time in 1999, Microsoft introduced Passport, which was
designed to enhance browsing between Microsoft and its partner sites. Liberty
Alliance says it hopes to provide the same capabilities as Passport, but its
specification has been written more with privacy - and end-user acceptance - in mind.
The latest version of the Liberty Alliance's federated identity
specification provides an architecture for single sign-on using SAML (see "Making
ID Management Manageable"). But the Liberty Alliance's implementation is fraught with difficulties. For example, the primary method of retrieving assertions involves browser redirection. Browser redirection increases traffic between the browser and multiple servers, and sessions and open connections proliferate, both on the desktop and the server.
That can lead to capacity overload on the server side and performance problems on the desktop.
The Liberty Alliance's federated identity architecture provides multiple identities between two or more sites within a circle of trust, which is a group of businesses that have arranged to share customers. A third-party identity provider manages customer identities with single sign-on among the
circle's sites and issues SAML assertions"all while protecting the customers' privacy.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
