Full Intranet Access with Smart Cards Example
Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2
Important
This topic describes design considerations for DirectAccess in Windows Server 2008 R2. For the design considerations of DirectAccess in Microsoft Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG), see the Forefront UAG DirectAccess Design Guide (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=179988).
Full intranet access with smart cards is the full intranet access design and the use of smart cards to provide an additional level of authorization for the intranet tunnel. The DirectAccess server enforces the use of smart card credentials when the DirectAccess client computer attempts to access an intranet resource.
The following figure shows an example of full intranet access with smart cards.
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When a user on the DirectAccess client logs on to their computer with the smart card, they obtain transparent access to intranet resources. If they log in to the computer using domain credentials, such as a username and password combination, and attempt to access the intranet, Windows displays a message in the notification area instructing them to enter their smart card credentials. The user then inserts their smart card and provides their smart card personal identifier (PIN) to access intranet resources.
This notification message will fade away in five seconds or may be covered by other notifications in a shorter amount of time, but an icon displaying a pair of keys will stay in the notification area. If the user misses the notification, the keys icon will be available in the overflow tray, which will allow them to launch the credential prompt again by clicking on it.
Note
If the user closes the smart card credential prompt from the notification area, there is no way of relaunching it, nor will the keys show up in the overflow tray again. The user must lock their computer and then unlock it with their smart card to access the intranet.