Providing a realm name

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Providing a realm name

Realm names are used for network routing and authentication. They provide the identification necessary to forward authentication requests to the server that holds the user's credentials. Realm information is only used for dial-up connections.

Using the CMAK wizard, you can specify a realm user-name prefix (such as Awesome/) or suffix (such as @Awesome) to be added to the user name that a user enters when connecting to your service. The realm name includes any separator characters, such as @ or /. If you specify the realm, users do not have to provide it themselves because Connection Manager automatically places the realm name before or after the user's name so that the user does not have to understand network routing in order to log on.

If your service uses multiple networks or ISPs for access, you need to provide different realm information for each. In this case, create service profiles for each of the networks and then merge them together in a top-level profile.

Notes

Internet Authentication Service (IAS) supports the use of realm names for remote authentication. You can use the realm name as authentication routing information for remote roaming users (users who travel and connect through different Internet access points). When the user connects through a network access server (NAS), the NAS sends the realm name, the user name, and the user password to the authentication server. For more information on IAS, see Internet Authentication Service.