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How ONTAP controls access to files overview

Contributors netapp-aherbin
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ONTAP controls access to files according to the authentication-based and file-based restrictions that you specify.

When a client connects to the storage system to access files, ONTAP has to perform two tasks:

  • Authentication

    ONTAP has to authenticate the client by verifying the identity with a trusted source. In addition, the authentication type of the client is one method that can be used to determine whether a client can access data when configuring export policies (optional for CIFS).

  • Authorization

    ONTAP has to authorize the user by comparing the user's credentials with the permissions configured on the file or directory and determining what type of access, if any, to provide.

To properly manage file access control, ONTAP must communicate with external services such as NIS, LDAP, and Active Directory servers. Configuring a storage system for file access using CIFS or NFS requires setting up the appropriate services depending on your environment in ONTAP.