Netoria: Simplified Logins with SFLOGIN, An NDS-Enabled Application
Articles and Tips: article
01 Jun 1998
Third Place
Novell is pleased to announce that Netoria, Inc., with their product, SFLogin , won third place in the "Get Off Your Apps" contest that ended 27 March 1998.
Netoria, Inc., develops network enabled applications and utilities that integrate with and simplify the use of corporate networks. Their product SFLOGIN simplifies the IntranetWare and NetWare login process to make networks easier for users, and simpler to administer. Because SFLOGIN can search the corporate tree, users do not need to know their context in order to log in.
Traditionally, user names for X.500 compatible directory services have required the user to remember their location in the directory tree, or context. This is a known inconvenience for X.500 directory service users.
This difficulty is commonly addressed with aliases, which map an object's context to a simplified name. However, SFLOGIN accepts a partial name and then searches the current context for that user. If it cannot locate the user, it searches parts of the NDS tree in an order specified by the network administrator.
SFLOGIN does not use an index to search the NDS tree. It searches the tree directly, using a multithreaded, optimized search based on Novell's client server APIs. The search uses minimal time and generates little network traffic. It also accepts wild cards.
Because NDS allows the same object name in different containers, SFLOGIN displays any duplicate object names it finds and prompts the user to select the correct object.
SFLOGIN also provides an integrated full screen NDS browser to help located users. The browser displays multiple NDS trees and bindery servers. Administrators can disable this feature in high-security environments.
SFLOGIN also introduces a capability of logging into a network with another object name. These names are attributes of an NDS user object and can have multiple values. They are not aliases.
This allows a user to login with a simple name such as a serial number, mainframe ID, or initials and be authenticated by their full object name. The network administrator manages these other names.
SFLOGIN 32 uses the NDS searching capability to locate users and allow them to login quickly and easily from any workstation. It is a snap-in to the Novell IntraNetWare client and replaces the interface. In Windows NT, it replaces the GINA driver and calls through the Novell client.
This enables the Novell client to provide all the usual login functionality. SFLOGIN 32 further simplifies login by creating customized login screens suited to their organization and their users. For example, they can display important messages, or remove the cancel button so that users must log in to the network.
In addition, SFLOGIN 32 provides single sign on capability for Lotus Notes, with more single sign on modules planned in the near future.
Congratulations, Netoria, Inc. on allowing contextless logins, simplifying login management, and on your third place win!
Please see the article on page 36 of this issue of Developer Notes for information on how Clemson University uses SFLOGIN.
For additional technical information and white papers, visit Netoria's Web site at www.netoria.com
* Originally published in Novell AppNotes
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