Is there any method besides using a DB with username and password for authenticating a user?
3 Answers
Depending on how users access the site, you might be able to authenticate simply by their IP address.
There is also HTTP authentication, both basic and digest.
But if you need to differentiate between multiple users then these need to be stored somewhere, and regardless of the method used, this is a "database".
Oh boy are there! OAuth (Facebook, Google, Twitter), SAML, LDAP, PAM, HTTP Basic, HTTP Client Certificate, IP restriction, 2-Factor authentication, RSA token, biometrics.
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I like the rundown. Very impressive! I would like to have seen a couple of paragraphs that would categorize these by advantage and when and how to chose one or a set of options. Not a lot, just a bit more to be helpful and give a direction to run in. Clearly, you know what you are doing! The user does not- at least not to the degree you do. Here is an opportunity to add a bit of value. Thanks in advance! Aug 18, 2014 at 0:06
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BTW- I want to say I like your answers. I wrote my comment to be constructive and not critical. Please keep it up! Aug 18, 2014 at 0:52
You could try using some eternal authentication like OAuth http://oauth.net/ or Facebook Login https://developers.facebook.com/docs/facebook-login/login-flow-for-web/v2.1
I believe OAuth still requires SQL usage though.