Users (explained)

The term users primarily refers to users who connect to the surveillance system through the clients. You can configure such users in two ways:

• As basic users, authenticated by a user name/password combination
• As Windows users, authenticated based on their Windows login

Windows Users

You add Windows Users through the use of Active Directory. Active Directory (AD) is a directory service implemented by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems. It identifies resources on a network in order for users or applications to access them. Active Directory uses the concepts of users and groups.

Users are Active Directory objects representing individuals with a user account. Example:

Groups are Active Directory objects with several users. In this example, the Management Group has three users:

Groups can contain any number of users. By adding a group to the system, you add all of its members in one go. Once you have added the group to the system, any changes made to the group in Active Directory, such as new members you add or old members you remove at a later stage, are immediately reflected in the system. A user can be a member of more than one group at a time.

You can use Active Directory to add existing user and group information to the system with some benefits:

• Users and groups are specified centrally in Active Directory so you do not have to create user accounts from scratch
• You do not have to configure any authentication of users on the system as Active Directory handles authentication

Before you can add users and groups through the Active Directory service, you must have a server with Active Directory installed on your network.

Basic users

If your system does not have access to Active Directory, create a basic user. For information about how to set up basic users, see Create basic users.