1-11 Portal ConfigurationWhen configuring portal, go to these sections for information you are interested in:z Portal Overviewz Portal Configuration Task Listz Displaying and Maintaining Portalz Portal Configuration Examplesz Troubleshooting PortalPortal OverviewThis section covers these topics:z Introduction to Portalz Introduction to Extended Portalz Portal System Componentsz Portal Authentication Modesz Portal Authentication ProcessIntroduction to PortalPortal authentication, as its name implies, helps control access to the Internet. Portal authentication isalso called web authentication and a website implementing portal authentication is called a portalwebsite.With portal authentication, an access device forces all users to log into the portal website at first. Everyuser can access the free services provided on the portal website; but to access the Internet, a user mustpass portal authentication on the portal website.A user can access a known portal website, enter username and password for authentication. Thisauthentication mode is called active authentication. There is still another authentication mode, namelyforced authentication, in which the access device forces a user trying to access the Internet throughHTTP to log in to a portal website for authentication.The portal feature provides the flexibility for Internet service providers (ISPs) to manage services. Aportal website can, for example, present advertisements, and deliver community services andpersonalized services. In this way, broadband network providers, equipment providers, and contentservice providers form an industrial ecological system.Introduction to Extended Portal FunctionsBy forcing users to implement patching and anti-virus policies, extended portal functions help users todefend against viruses. The main extended functions are described as follows:z Security authentication mechanism: The security authentication mechanism works after theidentity authentication process to check that the required anti-virus software, virus definitionupdates and OS patches are installed, and no unauthorized software is installed on the terminal ofa user.
