Authentication Resource Center for SharePoint Products and Technologies

This page provides authentication planning and deployment resources for IT pros and developers.

Authentication is the process of validating client identity to establish that a user who is trying to access Web site resources can be verified as an authenticated entity. SharePoint Products and Technologies are logically divided into three distributed tiers: the front-end Web server tier, the application server tier, and the back-end database tier. Each tier is a trusted subsystem and authentication can be configured to restrict or allow access to each tier.