ASA Database Administration Guide
Connecting to a Database
The integrated login feature allows you to maintain a single user ID and password for both database connections and operating system and/or network logins. This section describes the integrated login feature.
Integrated login capabilities are available for the Windows NT server only. It is possible for Windows 95/98/Me clients, as well as Windows NT/2000/XP clients, to use integrated logins to connect to a network server running on Windows NT/2000/XP.
An integrated login is a mapping from one or more Windows NT/2000/XP user profiles to an existing user in a database. A user who has successfully navigated the security for that user profile and logged in to their machine can connect to a database without providing an additional user ID or password.
To accomplish this, the database must be enabled to use integrated logins and a mapping must have been granted between the user profile used to log in to the machine and/or network, and a database user.
Using an integrated login is more convenient for the user and permits a single security system for database and network security. Its advantages include:
When connecting to a database using an integrated login, the user does not need to type a user ID or password.
If you use an integrated login, the user authentication is done by the operating system, not the database: a single system is used for database security and machine or network security.
Multiple user profiles can be mapped to a single database user ID.
The name and password used to login to the Windows NT/2000/XP machine do not have to match the database user ID and password.
| Caution Integrated logins offer the convenience of a single security system but there are important security implications which database administrators should be familiar with. |
For more information about security and integrated logins, see Security concerns: unrestricted database access.
Using integrated logins
Security concerns: unrestricted database access
Setting temporary public options for added security
Network aspects of integrated logins
Creating a default integrated login user