Authentication spaces

Protector uses the concept of Authentication Spaces when authenticating users. The Authentication Space tells the Protector master node which authentication service is able to validate a specific user's login credentials. Authentication requests are routed, by the master, to the proxy node responsible for communicating with the authentication service in question.

Although it is possible to nominate the master node as the proxy, it is often the case that the master node is either not in the required space or is of the wrong OS type. Consider the following scenario:

Figure. Authentication in a multi-space Protector environment

Here the Protector master node is responsible for nodes in three separate spaces, so a separate proxy is required to communicate with each authentication service. It is possible to have different authentication service types for each space.