SP 2013 -- "claims based authentication"

Question

As part of our TFS (Team Foundation Server) 2013 upgrade I encountered this note about the SharePoint component:

>>>In SharePoint Server 2013, Microsoft deprecated Windows classic-authentication in favor of claims-based authentication

What is meant by "claims-based authentication" ? (Will this authentication ask the, non-AD,  user to enter a username and password? Then does the "authentication system" vouch for that user when other systems require authentication?)

TIA,

edm2

Answer 1

Claims-based means a classic popup for username and password that doesn't use AD. See below:

http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles-tutorials/authentication_and_encryption/Claims-Based-Identity-What-does-Mean-You-Part1.html

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Andy Wessendorf SharePoint Developer II | Rackspace [e-mail]

Answer 2

Claims based authentication is the happy midway between classic Windows authentication and Forms authentication that encompasses pretty much all other auth types.  Under this system, the authentication provider you use i.e. Active Directory (Windows), SiteMinder, ASP Forms etc. authenticates the user and produces a claims token which SharePoint uses.  This allows for separation of authentication technology from SharePoint.

As far as the experience for non-AD users go, they would be prompted for a one time login (unless their session token expires due to inactivity) and after that they would surf SharePoint like an AD based user.  AD simply takes care of this login behind the scenes which is why AD users aren't challenged for credentials.

For a good overview of claims in 2013, start here:  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj219758.aspx

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I trust that answers your question...

Thanks
C
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