Working With a State Server

Internet Authentication Service (IAS) performs authentication using a database that is configured at the IAS server site. This authentication database could be the user database for a Windows Domain or it could draw upon the user information obtained from the Windows Active Directory. The following diagram illustrates a typical configuration that shows how IAS interacts with authentication databases such as a Windows Domain user database or Active Directory. The diagram also shows how IAS could interact with a state server that is provided by a third party. The primary purpose of a state server is to limit the number of simultaneous logon sessions a single user can run.

There are two points of interaction between IAS and the state server. One interaction takes place when IAS receives an authentication request from the NAS. The state server provides information from its database to determine whether to accept or deny the request. The other interaction takes place when IAS receives accounting records from the NAS. The state server uses these accounting records to update its database.

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Build date: 10/1/2007