I am now going to discuss the general advantages of
authorisation, authentication management as well as active directory I will
also be discussing the disadvantages of these and an overall conclusion.
Authentication management
The first point that I am
going to discuss is authentication management first of the definition of
authentication is I the person is allowed permission to enter a network so the
admin can choose the specific credentials needed to enter the network for
example at a school network where they would need a username and password. This
is an example because this allows them to be able to login in at any computer
on the network not just a specific PC like at home, an example of this is at
school where there a many buildings with many computers in each block so if
each computer is connecting to the network this will cut down on expensive as
each person will not need an individual computer. Also each student will have
their unique individual login this is a major advantage as there can be no
confusion with logging also they will have their own password which they can
change for safety reason and are also reminded to change it every year. Another
good thing is that as all the credentials are stored on the server the teachers
and technicians will be able to add or remove accounts if necessary also if a
student forgets there password then it can be reset. However a disadvantage of this that if
someone finds out the password then they have instant access to the persons
account, also it is minimal security so it would be easy to hack into network
or individual user area. Another example
of authentication management is hardware tokens which can come in the form of
key fobs or hardware which you swipe or scan as a form of identification this
is a major advantage as you no longer to need to remember any login details as
soon as have the key you can have access to the network which can also be a major
disadvantage as if you were to lose the key then the person would have access
to your account. Also the cost of buying the hardware tokens for every
individual student will be costly as it Is not cheap which also means that if
they were lost by a student it would be expensive to replace. Anyone can also
access anyone’s account as long as they have the key or similar hardware anyone
can pretend to be the user.
Another example of
authentication management is fingerprint scanning this is a modern
authentication technique the reason of why this is a good way is because it
would only work for one person so not one could hack or attempt to gain access
without it being you. This makes this a very high security authentication but
it also the most expensive the software that it costs it allow finger print
scanning is not used for regular schools or companies only expensive companies
that would need the this high level of authentication. However a good thing
about this is that if you easily forget passwords or logins there is no need to
worry however many companies use a combination of one are two of these method
in order there network to stay secure.
Active
Directory
The
next point that I am going to discuss is active directory first of an active
directory is allows you to create and maintain multiple user accounts. For
example when a new year group joins the school network the active directory is
used to add all these accounts for the new students. Another example of when
the active directory is used is when the year 11 students stay on for sixth
from then there account is maintained as they will be staying on the school
network but for all the other students they keep them on the network for
another year this is just in case they need to come back to get work but after
that they are removed to free up space on the server. Their name is automatically
added as well as the year they joined the school so for example my is 09 as I
joined the school in 2009, also so soon as the account is created it is easy to
maintain as the account does not need to be created again at the start of the
year this is a major advantage as there will be a couple hundred users in each
year group and having to re add them all is very unpractical and time
consuming. As there is a limited amount of space on the server each person is
allocated 1 GB of memory on their own user area, which they can save work,
pictures and videos etc. Also the active
directory allows certain users specific access for example in my current school
there is a stupid public drive that everyone has access to on the network but
only certain accounts like teachers have access to edit and add files to this
public area whereas students can only read and open the files which is a major
advantage as if every student could alter or edit the files then it would be
very chaotic as with just teachers having permission then it allows them to put
specific work on there. Also there is certain programmes that cannot be
accessed but could be changed as it is all managed so if there was multiple
servers they could be set to each do different roles for each and also allows
the network as a whole to run smoother as a whole. Also it makes it easier to
access groups and to edit or change them in any way, also then adding groups
will be much less hassle when adding or removing specific users as the basics
have already been created. The disadvantages are that unless you are
familiar with the set up you will struggle and if you get a single bit wrong
then then you will have to restart it all over again. As it not something you
can just pick up and learn so if the operator of it is not experienced it can
create problems such as reinstallation and so on.
Along with the complication of the active
directory another problem is that if there was a technical difficulty and the active
directory went down this would create many problems in the school network. This
would cause major disruptions with work and teachers lessons so is a necessity
that precautions are made to prevent this and this is why the initial setup is
very important. The other obvious disadvantage being the cost if it went wrong
but also the software it is specifically designed for windows but this is good
for our particular schools because all of our PC’s are windows but for school
that are not then they would have to have the equivalent for the appropriate operating
system.
DNS
The last the thing
that I am going to discuss is that the domain name server or DNS for short.
This has previously been used discussed but I am going to talk more in depth
and both the advantages and disadvantages. The main purpose of the domain name
server is to locate specific addresses on a network via their name instead of their
individual IP address making it easier to locate them. An example of this is if
you want to go on Google.com you can type that address in and the DNS will find
out the IP and translate is so saves you from typing the long IP address. This
is used to locate and help a particular network run smoothly for example in our
school if there was a problem with one of the computers but didn’t know which
one they could find out the IP address then from that the computer name in
order to fix the problem which is a major advantage. Also another example is
that in our school there is various buildings so if a student want to send work
such as through printing they are only limited to various options. For example
a couple of rooms down is allowed but in different buildings across the school
is not saving money from unnecessary printing or work that may get lost.
Bibligraphy
http://www.imprivata.co.uk/products-and-solutions/authentication-management/onesign-authentication-management
http://www.ehow.com/list_6464570_advantages-domain-name-service.html
http://searchwinit.techtarget.com/answer/Advantages-and-disadvantages-of-DNS-on-domain-controllers
http://a201165.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/active-directory-advantages-and-disadvantages/
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa746492(v=vs.85).aspx
