Fluid Topics supports the following ways to authenticate users:
- Fluid Topics can handle user authentication itself. In this case it supports user registration.
- Fluid Topics can delegate the authentication process to an enterprise directory (LDAP or Active Directory) or a more advanced system called SSO. SSO authentication mechanisms make it possible for users to log in only once for all associated applications and prevent passwords from transiting through applications.
To define user databases, Fluid Topics mobilizes one or more authentication realms. A realm is a kind of connector to a user database and is described by a type (protocol type), a name (that identifies it) and a configuration. Several realms can be enabled at the same time. In this case, users can choose the login method they prefer. When a user attempts to log in, Fluid Topics looks for that user in all realms in the same order as they are declared.