TheArchitect.co.uk - Jorgen Thelin's weblog

News About Microsoft Services Connector (MSC) Release Plans

Here is some important news regarding Microsoft Services Connector (MSC) and "Geneva" Server release plans.

Microsoft Services Connector Merging into the Code Name "Geneva" Server Product

• Federating with Microsoft is an easy way has always been end game, and organizations are likely to want to federate with other organizations (not just Microsoft).
  To that end we have _merged the MSC functionality into the core Codename "Geneva" Server product_.
• The Microsoft Services Connector was built on top of "Geneva" technology and leveraged its claims architecture, security provisions, and support for the same open, standard protocols -- with the specific intention of providing a smooth upgrade path to the full "Geneva" Server product.
• With this change of plan, the full power and flexibility of "Geneva" Server (for example: support for additional protocols such as SAML 2.0) will now be available to everyone.
• The ease-of-use functionality in MSC to easily connect Active Directory users to the Microsoft Federation Gateway and Microsoft Online Services is now being made available as a provisioning tool for "Geneva" Server.
• More details about the functionality of "Geneva" Server is available here: http://www.microsoft.com/Geneva

FAQ: What is the difference between the "Geneva" Server and the Microsoft Services Connector for extending authentication and SSO from on-premises to hosted services?

Working in partnership with the Windows Live team, we evaluated the requirements for the Microsoft Services Connector and have now built those requirements into "Geneva" Beta 2.

On a going forward basis, the "Geneva" Server will include the Microsoft Services Connector functionality and the MSC will not be released.

The "Geneva" and Windows Live teams will continue to partner closely to ensure the required customer scenarios are addressed.

More details about "Geneva" Server functionality is available here: http://www.microsoft.com/Geneva

FAQ: Will the same Domain-Proof Certificates work with "Geneva" Server that worked with MSC?

A new tool is being included in "Geneva" Server package to make the process of setting up federation with the Microsoft Federation Gateway as easy as it was with MSC.

This process uses the same Windows Live Trust Provisioning service that was used by MSC, and the same requirements for domain-proof certificates apply.

More details about "Geneva" Server management and configuration is available here: http://www.microsoft.com/Geneva