User Management
Windows SharePoint Services simplifies user management by relying on IIS and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 to manage user accounts and authentication. Either Windows Server 2003 or Active Directory can be used to manage the user accounts; however, IIS is always used to manage user authentication.
User Account Modes
Windows SharePoint Services provides two user administration modes:
Domain account mode
Active Directory account creation mode
When you or your administrator installs and configures Windows SharePoint Services on a department or company server, you choose the account mode to use in SharePoint. This is an important decision—once you select one mode, you cannot change back to the other mode without uninstalling and reinstalling Windows SharePoint Services. Further, SharePoint will not run in a mixed mode.
A default Windows SharePoint Services installation uses domain account mode. Domain account mode allows users with Windows Domain accounts access to your site. This account mode is best suited when you plan to use SharePoint internally on a Windows-based network where your systems administrator controls user creation.
If you plan to use SharePoint externally, choose Active Directory account creation mode. In Active Directory account creation mode, you can create users in the SharePoint central administration web site. SharePoint then adds the user to Active Directory after creation.
Authentication Modes
SharePoint limits which users can access a team site through ...