Core Components and Internal Services (Sun Java System Access Manager 7.1 Technical Overview)

Sun Java System Access Manager 7.1 Technical Overview

Core Components and Internal Services

The core components provide the logic that performs the main Access Manager functions, working with the services that run within Access Manager. These internal services process data solely for use by Access Manager. The following table lists the core components and internal services with brief descriptions.

Table 1–2 Core Components and Internal Services


Core Component or Internal Service	What it Does
Authentication component	Validates user’s credentials and verifies that the user is who he claims to be.
Authorization (Policy) component	Evaluates policies to determine whether the user has permission to access the requested resource.
SAML component	Provides a protocol-based alternative to using cookies for performing a SSO session.
Federation component	Enables user to access resources provided by multiple business partners in a SSO session.
User Session Management component	Maintains information about user sessions, and enforces timeout limits. Provides continued proof of identity to enable single sign-on sessions.
Logging Service	Tracks a user’s interactions with web applications. Creates log messages to form an audit trail of important events within the system.
Naming Service	Defines URLs for other Access Manager components and internal services, enabling a client to locate them.
Platform Service	Manages configurable attributes used in an Access Manager deployment.
Client Detection Service	Detects the client type of the browser being used to access the Access Manager application. Client types include HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and Wireless Markup Language (WML), among other protocols.