.Net Development Archives

What is Microsoft Identity Server 4

By Potenza .Net Development November 24, 2021

Identity Server 4 is an OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 framework for ASP.NET Core.

The Big Picture

Most modern applications look more or less like this:

The most common interactions are:

⦁ Browsers communicate with web applications
⦁ Web applications communicate with web APIs (sometimes on their own, sometimes on behalf of a user)
⦁ Browser-based applications communicate with web APIs
⦁ Native applications communicate with web APIs
⦁ Server-based applications communicate with web APIs
⦁ Web APIs communicate with web APIs (sometimes on their own, sometimes on behalf of a user)

Typically each and every layer (front-end, middle-tier, and back-end) has to protect resources and implement authentication and/or authorization – often against the same user store.

Outsourcing these fundamental security functions to a security token service prevents duplicating that functionality across those applications and endpoints.

Restructuring the application to support a security token service leads to the following architecture and protocols:

Such a design divides security concerns into two parts:

Authentication

Authentication is needed when an application needs to know the identity of the current user. Typically these applications manage data on behalf of that user and need to make sure that this user can only access the data for which he is allowed. The most common example for that is (classic) web applications – but native and JS-based applications also have a need for authentication.

The most common authentication protocols are SAML2p, WS-Federation, and OpenID Connect – SAML2p being the most popular and the most widely deployed.

OpenID Connect is the newest of the three but is considered to be the future because it has the most potential for modern applications. It was built for mobile application scenarios right from the start and is designed to be API friendly.

API Access

Applications have two fundamental ways with which they communicate with APIs – using the application identity, or delegating the user’s identity. Sometimes both methods need to be combined.

OAuth2 is a protocol that allows applications to request access tokens from a security token service and use them to communicate with APIs. This delegation reduces complexity in both the client applications as well as the APIs since authentication and authorization can be centralized.

OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 – better together

OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 are very similar – in fact, OpenID Connect is an extension on top of OAuth 2.0. The two fundamental security concerns, authentication, and API access are combined into a single protocol – often with a single round trip to the security token service.

We believe that the combination of OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 is the best approach to secure modern applications for the foreseeable future. Identity Server 4 is an implementation of these two protocols and is highly optimized to solve the typical security problems of today’s mobile, native, and web applications.

How Identity Server 4 can help

IdentityServer is middleware that adds the spec-compliant OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 endpoints to an arbitrary ASP.NET Core application.

Typically, you build (or re-use) an application that contains a login and logout page (and maybe consent – depending on your needs), and the Identity Server 4 middleware adds the necessary protocol heads to it so that the client applications can talk to it using those standard protocols.

ASP.NET core application - identity server 4

The hosting application can be as complex as you want, but we typically recommend keeping the attack surface as small as possible by including authentication-related UI only.

Identity Server 4 implements the following specifications:

OpenID Connect

⦁ OpenID Connect Core 1.0 (spec)
⦁ OpenID Connect Discovery 1.0 (spec)
⦁ OpenID Connect RP-Initiated Logout 1.0 – draft 01 (spec)
⦁ OpenID Connect Session Management 1.0 – draft 30 (spec)
⦁ OpenID Connect Front-Channel Logout 1.0 – draft 04 (spec)
⦁ OpenID Connect Back-Channel Logout 1.0 – draft 06 (spec)

OAuth 2.0

⦁ OAuth 2.0 (RFC 6749)
⦁ OAuth 2.0 Bearer Token Usage (RFC 6750)
⦁ OAuth 2.0 Multiple Response Types (spec)
⦁ OAuth 2.0 Form Post Response Mode (spec)
⦁ OAuth 2.0 Token Revocation (RFC 7009)
⦁ OAuth 2.0 Token Introspection (RFC 7662)
⦁ Proof Key for Code Exchange (RFC 7636)
⦁ JSON Web Tokens for Client Authentication (RFC 7523)
⦁ OAuth 2.0 Device Authorization Grant (RFC 8628)
⦁ OAuth 2.0 Mutual TLS Client Authentication and Certificate-Bound Access Tokens (RFC 8705)
⦁ JWT Secured Authorization Request (draft)

it enables the following features in your applications:

Authentication as a Service

Centralized login logic and workflow for all of your applications (web, native, mobile, services). IdentityServer is an officially certified implementation of OpenID Connect.

Single Sign-on / Sign-out

Single sign-on (and out) over multiple application types.

Access Control for APIs

Issue access tokens for APIs for various types of clients, e.g. server to server, web applications, SPAs, and native/mobile apps.

Federation Gateway

Support for external identity providers like Azure Active Directory, Google, Facebook, etc. This shields your applications from the details of how to connect to these external providers.

Focus on Customization

The most important part – many aspects of IdentityServer can be customized to fit your needs. Since IdentityServer is a framework and not a boxed product or a SaaS, you can write code to adapt the system the way it makes sense for your scenarios.

Mature Open Source

IdentityServer uses the permissive Apache 2 license that allows building commercial products on top of it. It is also part of the .NET Foundation which provides governance and legal backing.

Github link: https://github.com/Freelancingonupwork/IdentityServerWithMVC

Why need to implement an identity server

Example

Google is providing the multiple product and services for example drive, Gmail, slides, Contact, etc

All these services portal is having a different URL.

1 https://mail.google.com
2 https://drive.google.com
3 https://contact.google.com
4 https://slides.google.com

Since all the services running on different URLs. They need to protect the application access by implementing login/ authentication. It’s not a good idea to implement the login module for each and every service. Instead of that, they have a centralized login ( https://account.google.com ) which is responsible to authenticate the user who is trying to access any Google services

So this reduces the burden of application services to authenticate users. As this reprehensibility given to the separate application.

How to find an ASP.NET Development Company in India?

By Potenza .Net Development, Asp .Net October 16, 2021

How to find an ASP.NET Development Company in India

A company constantly needs talent, digital skills, and advanced technology when it expands or increases its workloads. So one of the methods people choose is outsourcing. It’s the method of hiring an independent workforce. Besides, many people choose personnel in India because of the pool of talent, speedy delivery, favorable IT policies, and advanced techniques. But the question arises how do you find a reliable ASP.NET Development Company in India?

Understandably, it’s a trick to find a company that suits your culture and preferences. But this article will be your guide. Keep reading.

Where to find an ASP.NET Development Company in India?

Before we get into hows and wheres, you need to note down your requirements. Understand whether you need a new desktop application or something else. After that, plan your budget.

Get to know if you need a custom design or not. In the end, communicate with your team and then with the companies you’ll keep on your list. Now, where can you find them?

1. Research on google:

The best way to find something is on google. They’re the popular choices of people. Just put the keyword “asp.net development company in India” and go through the possible results. Then, click on the results and check if their mission, values, and services match your needs.

2. Indian Directories:

Directors show the top companies that might be suitable for you. Google categorizes the sites according to the traffic a website receives. Therefore, it’s a high chance that you will get the company you need. Some directories you can choose from are www.yellowpages.sulekha.com, www.surfindia.com, www.yalwa.in, www.indiamart.com and www.hotfrog.in.

3. Mouth-to-mouth suggestions:

If you have good networks, it’s time to contact the people who might know such companies. When the recommendations are from the people you trust, it becomes easier to shortlist the company you need to source. Besides, it’ll also decrease your hiring stress and let you focus on additional work. You can also make use of social media and the communities present on Facebook.

Top things to look for in an ASP.NET Development Company in India

After you shortlist your list of companies, you should look for certain factors. However, before you choose one, consider calling them and talking to each of them about your needs. Here’s what you should keep in mind while selecting an asp.net development company in India.

1. Experience:

A company with some years of experience has a better knowledge of their work, can give result-driven deliveries, and maintain a sustainable relationship with customers. Besides, you can also check for their certification regarding the development.

All in all, the more experience any company’s workforce possesses, the more reliable outcomes you’ll get.

2. Good at Microsoft technologies:

Inevitably, the company should have experience in Microsoft technologies. Therefore, you should check if the shortlisted companies have used ASP.NET in Windows Azure, Microsoft SQL Server, SharePoint for a better experience.

3. Mobile support:

You may or may not need mobile platforms now, but it’s wise to choose a company that provides mobile solutions for future benefits. You can check the features of a company by looking at their testimonials and noting the apps they’ve developed. In addition, you can check if they have functioned with Windows Phone, Android, and iPhone apps in support of ASP.NET.

4. Adaptable:

Find out if the shortlisted companies have in the past kept themselves up-to-date with the changes and continue to provide the best solutions. This feature shall help you hire a reliable organization.

5. Guarantees available:

You should consider the companies willing to take up the responsibility beforehand for any changes, maintenance, or glitches that might arise. It will help you a lot and eventually save time and money.

All in all,

It isn’t easy to choose an asp.net development company in India because of the pool of options available. Check their certifications, experiences, models, and cost. However, it would be best to keep in mind the tips this article gave and go for the negotiable company that suits your needs. Besides the skills mentioned above, an ASP.NET development company should have excellent problem-solving abilities, good communication skills, and exceptional competencies in order to deliver a great project for your business. Because, in the end, it’s all about achieving your business goals at the optimum level.

Guide To Leverage Technology For Better Amazon Drop Shipping System Management

By Potenza .Net Development, Asp .Net February 11, 2016

Guide-Leverage Technology to Better Amazon Drop Shipping Management

Drop shipping is a supply chain management technique in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock but instead transfers customer orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer, another retailer, stockiest or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods directly to the customer. We will call them as supplier.

Online shopping is expanding at a hovering speed, and with this, more and more retailers are looking to move onto this platform for grabbing the potential online customers. Not only retailers, many start-ups and businesses are looking forward to get their store online and earn more. Numerous eCommerce stores such as Amazon, eBay, and many others have open up to provide ample of opportunities to people who want to do business online.

This phenomenon has also opened an arena for Drop Shipping, which no doubt many entrepreneurs are opting to grow and maximize their high sales. Many eCommerce giants like Amazon, eBay provide this facility to sellers or retailers.

Drop shipping is a supply chain management technique in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock but instead transfers customer orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer, another retailer, stockiest or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods directly to the customer. We will call them as supplier.

In spite of the many advantages, this business strategy is not without challenges – ranging from collecting product information, managing orders, providing proper items to managing customer demands to name a few.

Among the various issues, there are those problems that are quite recurring and most of the retailers usually face. Let us find here what these challenges are, and evolve the ways on how these problems can be sorted out effectively with result-oriented solutions.

On Amazon, whenever any new order is placed, it has to be created at the manufacturer’s system manually and likewise need to update the shipment information at the Amazon whenever item has to be shipped by the supplier. This is too tedious, time consuming and man power involving task. This can even result into a lot of problems due to human error.

To resolve this issue of Drop Shipping system in Amazon, developers have leveraged the technology and strategized the process. Working on this supply chain system, they have devised out the better transaction process for the retailers, which enables them to carry on their businesses on Amazon smoothly.

Let us find here some of the problems that most of the retailers come across.

To process thousands of orders on the daily basis
To Handle Time out issue for eg. Amazon API has limitation to call the API method per minutes
To have retry feature for those orders which have been failed to create at the supplier system due to some reasons (maintenance at supplier system or server loading issues).

How to Resolve Drop Shipping Trivial but Crucial Glitches?

Thousands and thousands of orders are placed on Amazon at every minute, may be every second. This process need to be carried out smoothly without any hassle. For this, there should be a system, which can carry out this whole transaction errorless.

C#.net. helps to devise a system that can run in background executing and running every 30 minutes by the Windows Task Scheduler. This will help fetch the orders from the Amazon seller account at regular interval with the support of Amazon MWS API. Here, the system validates the orders and then pass them to the supplier system using CXML request.

Meanwhile, as this process is undergoing, the system will get the orders with the corresponding tracking number from supplier side and creates shipment request at Amazon.

Hence, in drop shipping strategy, developers can help businesses to get the whole application as per their business requirement. With these challenges achieved, you can have your store run efficiently on Amazon.

On the other end, you can also generate various reports which you may require for your business. The system provides the various reports which can be customized as per your needs. Let us explore some of them here:

Product Mapping : This maps products directly from the order placed on Amazon to the order in supplier system with quantity. This shows the stock and helps to maintain inventory.

Orders : This shows the number of orders with the latest status such as in process, shipping, reached.

State Mapping : Configure the state abbreviation to be used while placing the order at the supplier system

Reports : This helps generate various reports along with failed and pending order process reports.

Address Character Mapping : Configure the settings for special characters in the address

Settings : Specify the API credentials for Amazon and supplier system and specify the other settings

Benefits :

It reduces the Cost & Time of the client
Made Drop Shipping easy

Drop shipping in Amazon is no doubt a marvelous business model that helps lot of entrepreneurs and businesses to evolve and grab the huge market. But, when the system does not run according to specific business requirement, it always fails retailers to earn good business. With the challenges figured out in Amazon order process transaction, and getting an effective application to run the process, businesses can have their Lion’s share to enjoy. Such applications not only reduce cost of the client but also make drop shipping more simple, efficient and easy to work on.

If you want to develop system like Amazon Order Automation to run Drop Shipping management smoothly then please Contact US.