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Architecture

IDAM Providers

Users sign in to Computle workstations with one of three identity sources. This page sets out what each one involves.

Section titled “Entra ID (recommended)”

Entra ID is the recommended identity source for the Computle platform. Users sign in to the Computle Portal and the client with their Microsoft work account, Directory Sync keeps users and groups in step, and workstations can be joined to Entra ID and enrolled in Intune.

Benefits

  • One sign-in for the portal, the client and the workstation.
  • No on-premise servers or domain controllers to run.
  • Grows with the organisation without extra infrastructure.

How it works

Users authenticate against Entra ID with their existing work credentials and get the same experience on site or remotely.

On-premise domain controllers (Active Directory)

Section titled “On-premise domain controllers (Active Directory)”

Computle supports organisations that keep an on-premise Active Directory. Computle hosts your domain controllers in your Computle environment, and there is no charge for hosting domain controllers.

Benefits

  • Keeps existing Active Directory workflows and group policy.
  • Hosting with Computle puts the domain controllers next to the workstations.
  • Works alongside Entra ID in a hybrid set-up, with Entra Cloud Sync giving single sign-on to on-premise file shares.

Considerations

  • Client Access Licences (CALs). Computle provides the Windows 11 Professional licence for each workstation. CALs for Windows Server and other licensed services are not included; you obtain and manage them.
  • Management. You maintain the domain controllers and keep them patched and secure.

How it works

Computle hosts the domain controllers on its infrastructure. Users authenticate against them with their existing Active Directory credentials.

Section titled “Local user accounts (not recommended)”

Computle supports local user accounts on each workstation, but does not recommend them beyond very small or temporary deployments.

Benefits

  • No identity provider or directory needed.
  • Quick to set up for one or two workstations.

Considerations

  • No central policy, MFA or Conditional Access.
  • Every account is managed by hand on every workstation, which does not scale.

How it works

Local accounts are created on each workstation and users sign in with those credentials.