Security

Network authentication confirms the users identification to any network service that the user is attempting to access. To provide this type of authentication, the Windows 2000 security system supports many different authentication mechanisms, including smart cards, Kerberos v5, and NTLM for compatibility with Windows NT 4.0.

Domain account users do not see network authentication because Windows 2000 provides single sign-on support, automatically handling network authentication requests after a user has authenticated himself or herself and has been granted credentials. On the other hand, users of a local computer account must provide credentials (such as a public key certificate or a user name and password) every time they access a network resource.