Deployment models

A OneSpan Authentication Server installation can be used for the following tasks:

  • Authentication
  • Signature validation
  • Auditing
  • Co-ordinating the distribution of authenticators (provisioning)
  • Administration of data, configuration, and authentication settings
  • Reporting

In larger deployments, single OneSpan Authentication Server instances may be assigned specific tasks—for example, one instance to handle authentication requests, another one to handle provisioning and administration, and a third one for auditing and reporting tasks.

A number of options are available to scale OneSpan Authentication Server to the required level of operability, availability, and performance.

The deployment model that applies best to your situation depends on these basic factors:

  • Number of users in the system.
  • Amount of authentication traffic.
  • Number of sites that need authentication.
  • Required system availability. How important is it that authentication requests are being processed immediately?

This guide outlines some basic deployment models (see Table: Deployment models).

Table: Deployment models
Deployment model Number of users Authentications/second Number of sites System availability required
Basic < 50 < 50 1 Normal
Advanced 50–20,000 < 50 1 Normal
High-Availability 100–50,000 > 50 1 High
Maximum-Availability < 2,000,000 > 100 1 Critical
WAN 50–2,000,000 < 50 Multiple High
Network HSM 50–2,000,000 < 50 1 Normal
Internal HSM 50–2,000,000 > 50 1 Normal