2.5.2 Actors
The actors that participate in the Authentication Services protocols use cases are:
Client applications: Used to access and manipulate protected network resources. Client applications use the authentication and security services of the Authentication Services protocols to communicate with and to send requests to the server applications.
Server applications: Provide services to the client applications. Server applications use the authentication and security services of the Authentication Services protocols to communicate with and to send responses to the client applications.
LSA: The Local Security Authority (LSA) initiates the interactive logon use case by submitting user credentials.
Front-end server: A front-end server contacts Authentication Services to get the authentication token for the back-end server on behalf of the client's identity.
Back-end server: The back-end server depends on Authentication Services to validate the authentication token submitted by the server on behalf of the client's identity.
Authentication Client: The client application(s) and the LSA interact with Authentication Services by playing the roles of the "Authentication Client" actor.