Patent ID: 7707416

Claim:
An apparatus to store authentication information, comprising: a first computer storing a first container hierarchy and a second container hierarchy, the first container hierarchy including at least a first container and a second container, the second container stored in the first container, and the second container hierarchy including at least a third container and a fourth container, the third container stored in the fourth container; a user object creator to create a user object in one of the first container and the second container in the first container hierarchy using an administration policy to set access rights associated with the user object; an authentication source separate from the first computer for authenticating a first authentication request; a receiver/transmitter to receive the first authentication request from a second computer separate from the first computer and to forward the first authentication request to the authentication source; a user object updater for updating the user object with authentication information including a user name and at least one of an encrypted password and an unencrypted password; a permanent user object updater operative to store the user object in the second container hierarchy if the authentication source validates the first authentication request; and an authenticator to compare subsequent authentication requests to the authentication information in the user object in the second container hierarchy.