Implementing an Authentication Plug-in

Clients must follow a two-step process to access digital media. First, the identity of the client must be established. This is usually accomplished by comparing the client credentials against those contained in a database. Second, the client must be granted permission to access content. Authentication plug-ins are used to identify clients, and authorization plug-ins are used to grant access to content. To authenticate and authorize a client, the server performs the following steps: