
The latter category consists of users mapped to Windows user loginsĪnd of users mapped to Windows group logins. Therefore have a categorization of users that mimics the aboveĬategorization for logins so, we have SQL users and Windows users and Users are mapped to logins and the mapping is expressed by the SID So, to be able to connect to the server, one must haveĪccess via one of these types or logins - logins provide access to theīut logins are not enough, because work is usually done in a databaseĪnd databases are separate realms. Windows authenticated loginsĬan either be logins mapped to Windows users or logins mapped to I will usually refer to these using the shorter There are two mainĬategories of logins: SQL Server authenticated logins and WindowsĪuthenticated logins.

To do the work, one needs to first have access to the server and thenĪccess to the server is granted via logins. All work is done in the context of some database, but to get The server realm encompasses multiple database Security is that there are two security realms involved - the serverĪnd the database. The first important thing that needs to be understood about SQL Server


I think there is a really good MSDN blog post about this topic by Laurentiu Cristofor:
