Problem Overview

One limitation of standard authentication is that it does not support "single-sign-on" functionality, that is, the ability for a client browser providing valid username and password credentials to automatically apply them across multiple members area domains. Instead, according to internet standard RFC-2617^[1], username and password credentials are valid for a particular protection space, defined as the combination of the canonical root URL (i.e. www.domain.com/) and relevant authentication realm (i.e. AuthName). While this allows for the flexibility of having multiple protection spaces within the same domain, it does not, unfortunately, support a single protection space spanning multiple domains.

In short, this limitation can cause multiple, redundant login prompts as an authenticated member navigates across different protection spaces.

This inconvenience is often experienced in three common situations. First, many of our larger customers offer membership bundles and promotions, where end-users can purchase access to a nework of sites. Second, many administrators prefer to separate different types of content on different hosts to allow for finer-grained configuration controls -- e.g. putting videos on one domain and dynamic scripts on another. Third, different companies' sites may choose to share members or license protected content to a 3rd party by allowing access from external members areas. In these types of situations, multiple login prompts can create a disjointed browsing experience and can negatively impact member satisfaction and retention.

What is PSSO?

The Proxigence Single-Sign-On (PSSO) module is a unique approach to addressing these issues. Please read more to learn about the PSSO solution.