Operations
The operation and performance of the Federation infrastructure are paramount to maintaining its trust fabric. FIDERN supports certain operational services. As the Federation gains more experience with federated identity and access management and as requirements for other federation services emerge, the FIDERN Federation's operations will evolve to meet new functional criteria.
Communications and Support
Posting Material on the FIDERN Website
All FIDERN operating documents and statements are made accessible via the FIDERN website.
Help Desk
FIDERN provides a Help Desk for Participant administrative and technical support. The Help Desk is staffed during normal Zamren business hours. Any end users who inadvertently contact the Federation Help Desk will be referred to their home organization for support in online access to other Members
Federation Technical Infrastructure
FIDERN is responsible for the secure operation of a number of technology platforms including: a "Discovery Service" (DS) server; a Metadata distribution service; and other necessary infrastructure.
Discovery Service (DS)
The Discovery Service, an optional user interface component, is responsible for allowing users to specify their appropriate Identity Provider for the services they intend to use on-line. Upon selecting an Identity Provider, the user is redirected to the Identity Provider's log in service to authenticate. FIDERN operates a DS service and Web page on which all Identity Providers are listed.
Metadata Distribution
FIDERN publishes Metadata submitted by all Members for interoperation of Identity Provider and Service Provider systems. FIDERN may also make a subset of the Metadata available to peering Co-Federations.
Suspension of Federation Services
If FIDERN suspects compromise of any of its service components, it may take immediate action to remedy the situation or verify non-compromise, including taking components out of service for a limited time for diagnosis and repair. The *Federation Operator* always will endeavor to minimize interruption or inconvenience to Members. Any critical compromise will be communicated to Members in a timely manner.
Disaster Recovery
FIDERN disaster recovery practices ensure the minimum interruption of availability of Federation services in the event of a disaster. This includes providing redundant hardware and secure data backups.