Microsoft NPS vs. Cisco ACS matrix

[Sebastian Helmer]

Hi there,

is there a matrix that compares the NPS vs. ACS to see the advantages or disadvantages of the products.

e.g. I see that I can access only one domain, we have the problem that we have some domains we need to ask for access groups. They have a trust between each other but I'm not sure if that will work. Another topic is reporting and troubleshooting.

would be cool to get some informations, better a matrix to see the differents.

thanks friends.

regards,

Sebastian

[Tarik Admani]

Sebastian,

You may want to engage a local partner or account SE. I have worked with both boxes and here is the personal differences that I have seen between ACS and IAS (or NPS).

• There is a better support community with respect to ACS, the documentation is much clearer when it comes to configuring ACS. You can always call TAC and can get someone on the phone for support.
• ACS supports tacacs which IAS does not.
• ACS joins to your domain and can authenticate to other databases like RSA, token servers, ldap, and it also has an internal database you can authenticate against. As long as the trusts are configured correctly ACS is able to authenticate in between the two domains.
• ACS doesnt run on windows so the fear of installing hotfixes and patches in order to meet windows audit requirements is no longer necessary.
• The reporting features are much easier to work with rather than NPS.

thanks,

Tarik Admani