Accounts Model in Windows Fax Server

Fax Server in Windows Server 2008 introduces the concept of Accounts. An account can be briefly described as a registration between an authenticated user and the fax server.

All clients connecting to a Windows Server 2008 Fax Server need to have an account with the fax server. If the account already exists, the server authenticates the user and establishes the connection. If the account does not exist, the server either automatically creates the account or, if not permitted to do so, denies the connection to the client. An account is the same as the end user’s Windows credentials, and it is tied to Windows authentication. So an administrator creating an account for an end user allows the Windows authenticated user to access only the fax server.

The first configuration setting that the fax administrator needs to consider is whether the server supports auto-creation or accounts. This scenario works as follows: In an auto-create environment, the server automatically creates an account for an authenticated user if it does not exist. If the setting is turned off, the server does not create the account and denies the connection. The administrator can choose this setting by taking the following steps:

1. Launch the fax service manager.

2. Right-click on the root node.

3. Launch the Properties dialog.

4. Navigate to the Accounts tab.

5. Choose whether the Auto-Create Accounts On Connection option is On or Off.

If auto-create is Off, the fax administrator has to manually manage the accounts on the fax server. If a user needs to work with the fax server, the administrator creates the account manually and then asks the user to try connecting to the fax server. To create an account, the fax administrator takes the following steps:

6. Launch the fax service manager.

7. Navigate to the Accounts node.

8. Choose Action New Account….

9. Enter the username and the domain for the account.

10. Click Create, and create the new account.

The default setting in Windows Server 2008 is that the auto-creation of accounts is turned on. The administrator can use the same Accounts node to delete an existing account. When an end user launches Windows Fax and Scan to work with a Windows Server 2008 Fax Server, the server authenticates whether he has an account or not. The connection is established only if the particular user has a valid account on the fax server. The accounts model in fax server allows a higher degree of control for the fax administrator, and it enforces better security on the fax server.

Source of Information : Introducing Windows Server 2008