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Symlabs Federated Identity Suite :: Frequently Asked Questions

What is a federation and how is it different to Single Sign-On (SSO)?

Single sign-on (SSO) is a method of access control that enables a user to authenticate once and gain access to the resources of multiple software systems. It is typically constrained to Enterprise boundaries (Enterprise SSO) so that identity space is a restricted to a single organization.

Federation seeks to expand the traditional boundaries applied to SSO so that it applies to systems outside of the Enterprise boundary. Federations are usually created with an adherence to various predefined standards that ensure that SSO is carried out in a secure and standard manner. Many of these standards have developed to provide additional functionality centered around the secure exchange of identity information beyond SSO. Please have a look at our Understanding Symlabs Federated Identity Suite tutorial for more information.

What does Symlabs Federated Identity Suite do?

Symlabs Federated Identity Suite can help you create "identity federations" with your partners with ease. This will allow you and your partners to provide users with access to valuable information quickly and with minimal frustration, taking advantage of the built-in SSO facility. The product facilitates everything required to quickly set up an Identity Provider (IdP) and configure systems within a Service Provider (SP) role. Additionally, the product includes the components to integrate easily with other standards-based federation enabled applications. Finally, Symlabs Federated Identity Suite can be used to take advantage of the Web Services Framework defined by Liberty Alliance.

There can be little doubt that this is the most powerful product on the market. It is by far the fastest, providing better throughput and operations per second than any competitive application. It is also extremely flexible and can be easily adapted to suit any complex environment. It is also the most reliable product on offer, capable of the 99.999% uptime required by Symlabs' carrier/telco and large enterprise clients.

What are some of the other benefits and features?

Symlabs Federated Identity Suite is discussed in some detail on the overview pages on the website, but to summarize its main features:

• Multiprotocol support: SAML 2.0, WS-Federation, ID-WSF, ID-FF 1.2. Protocol translation.
• Connectors with usual authentication tools:
  • Active Directory
  • LDAP Servers
  • Relational Databases
  • CA SiteMinder
  • Sun Access Manager
  • Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services
  • Oracle Access Manager
• Connectors with typical web service providers:
  • Microsoft Sharepoint portals
  • Google Apps.
  • Apache Module.
  • PHP SP toolkit.
  • ASP.NET SP toolkit
    
  • Java SP toolkit.
• Support for a variety of mainstream programming languages:
  • C, C++ and C#
  • Perl
  • Python
  • Java
    

Can you help to install and configure Symlabs Federated Identity Suite?

Symlabs can handle everything for you "start to finish". We understand that our clients are busy... so we make their lives easy by installing, configuring, optimizing and testing within their environment if requested. Remote and on site help is provided.

What about long-term support?

Symlabs is known for excellent customer service. We have many levels of support available (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) and can customize a support solution tailored to meet your needs.

Symlabs products, including the Symlabs Federated Identity Suite, are currently used by many leading telcos and carrier services, not to mention many other large enterprise organizations. Our products and services are here to stay, and you should have no concern about long-term support for them.

How often do you offer new releases?

We usually ship new versions with major upgrades every 6 months as a maximum. But we usually ship a new version when a new addition is done to the product in an interoperability or certification event. Our goal is to be First in the Market.

Can I try the Symlabs Federated Identity Suite before buying it?

Yes. You can download Symlabs Federated Identity Suite from the website and request an evaluation license from evalkey@symlabs.com

Which platforms can I use to try it?

You can download the product for Windows (2003 Server or XP Professional recommended), Linux, Solaris SPARC and Solaris x86 (8, 9 and 10)

Ok, I like Symlabs Federated Identity Suite. How much does the solution cost?

Please email jeff@symlabs.com for pricing information as the price can vary based on your requirements.

• What is the Symlabs Federated Identity Suite?
• What software components make up the Symlabs Federated Identity Suite?
• Do I need to purchase the entire Symlabs Federated Identity Suite or can I purchase the components individually?
• What is the Pricing Model for the Symlabs Federated Identity Suite and the individual components?
• Am I able to obtain an evaluation copy of the Symlabs Federated Identity Suite?
• What services do you provide to support the Symlabs Federated Suite?
• What kind of Annual Support do you offer? How is it priced?
• What types of Professional Services do you offer to support the Symlabs Federated Identity Suite?
• Do you offer Training for the Symlabs Federated Identity Suite?
• Do you have integration partners that resell and deploy your software?
• How is the Symlabs Federated Identity Suite implemented?
• How is the Symlabs Federated Identity Suite administered?
• How is audit handled in the Symlabs Identity Provider (IdP)?
• Does the Symlabs Identity Provider (IdP) generate unique identifiers for the users?
• Does the Symlabs Identity Provider (IdP) require a Symlabs Service Provider (SP) to communicate with or does it integrate with any SAML 2.0 compliant product?
• How can the Client Kit be used and what features does it provide?