An enterprise network may provide access to sensitive proprietary data and critical resources. Authentication is used to prevent unauthorized users from accessing enterprise resources. Examples of such enterprise resources include access to the intranet, access to the Internet, and access to a data center.
Web-based user authentication uses a combination of existing technologies, including Web browsers, Web content servers and secure and non-secure Internet communications protocols. Typically, a user attempting to access network resources for the first time is challenged for a user login name and password. A secure communication transport protocol, such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), is first established to transmit user credentials. An Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) protocol such as Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) or Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is typically used to authenticate the credentials.
Web-based user authentication solutions are typically single-processor-based. As such, both plaintext and encrypted traffic are handled by the same processor, which can lead to both inefficient CPU usage and compromised handling of other critical network traffic. In addition, such solutions are typically ill-equipped to handle processor failures and cannot scale easily to handle additional users, particularly in multi-VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) enterprise network environments. Accordingly, a need exists in the art for an improved solution for Web-based user authentication.