Vintela Authentication Services

Unequalled Benefits

Vintela Authentication Services provides an easily implemented, enterprise-ready, and natively integrated extension of AD to Unix, Linux, and Mac systems.

Active Directory for Unix/Linux/Mac

For organizations that have already adopted Active Directory (AD) for Windows access, authentication, and authorization, Vintela Authentication Services provides the seamless capability to extend that infrastructure to the rest of the enterprise. Vintela Authentication Services natively integrates Unix, Linux, and Mac systems to allow them to act as full citizens within Active Directory—thus benefiting from the existing security and compliance advantages AD offers.

Vintela Authentication Services also provides a framework for extending the powerful capabilities of policy-based management (through Windows Group Policy) to non-Windows systems.

Single Sign-on, Reduced Sign-on, and Centralized Authentication 

Vintela Authentication Services natively implements Kerberos and LDAP on Unix, Linux, and Mac systems in the same way those standards are used in Windows. In addition, the product provides out-of-the-box single sign-on for a number of applications (such as SAP), a powerful API that allows organizations to create single sign-on for any standards-based application authentication mechanism, and the ability to create single sign-on for  a number of popular applications (such as DB2).

Vintela Authentication Services also offers smart card support for Unix and Linux authentication initiated by a Windows smart card login. This enables password-less login using AD credentials, which provides a path to compliance with new Federal regulations and financial services best practices. The capability supports Axalto and CoolKey Common Access Card (CAC) smart cards on Linux and Solaris environments, with other platforms and smart cards support scheduled for release in the immediate future.

Migration and Directory Consolidation

Vintela Authentication Services provides a number of powerful capabilities that streamline the process of joining Unix/Linux/Mac systems and users to the AD domain and facilitate migration from multiple authentication mechanisms, identities, and directories to a single Active Directory-based infrastructure for all systems and users. These tools and features provide organizations with the flexibility to implement the solution at their own pace and specific to their own unique requirements augmented by the safety of roll-back capabilities and “what if” testing prior to going live.

Key features and tools to assist in migration, identity import, and directory consolidation include:

• Ownership Alignment Tool
• Unix Account Import Wizard
• RFC 2307 NIS Map Import Wizard
• RFC 2307 NIS Map Editor

Additional capabilities provide flexible alternatives to full-scale migration into AD. These features allow organizations to proceed to the ideal end state at their own pace and specific to their own circumstances. Features include:

• Unix Personality Management
• Mapped User Mode

Compliance and Security

Vintela Authentication Services allows organizations to address many of the compliance and security concerns with heterogeneous enterprises and Unix/Linux/Mac authentication mechanisms. The product provides a robust scalable alternative to NIS, allowing Unix and Linux systems and applications to enjoy the secure and compliant Kerberos and LDAP authentication offered by AD. In addition, through directory consolidation and advanced identity administration capabilities, many of the internal and regulatory concerns presented by multiple, disparate identity stores, identities, and authentication mechanisms can be eliminated.

Simplifying Identity Management

Vintela Authentication Services provides the enabling technology to allow organizations to simplify identity management based on an existing investment in Active Directory. Through the product, AD-based identity management solutions—such as those for provisioning, password management, and auditing and reporting—from Quest and other vendors, can naturally extend to non-Windows systems. In addition, Vintela Authentication Services can dramatically simplify an existing meta-directory or synchronization solution by allowing a high number of systems to participate in an AD-based identity management infrastructure rather than a synchronization scenario, which may require custom integration points with each system.

With AD as the foundation for enterprise-wide identity management—enabled for heterogeneous systems through Vintela Authentication Services—organizations can achieve operational efficiency, enhanced security, greater compliance, and significant ROI. The product allows the existing investment in AD to enhance identity management for non-Windows systems using existing standards-based tools and the existing skill sets of IT staff.

Features in Detail:

*This product includes software developed by SAP AG