Remote authentication allows users to authenticate to the system using credentials stored on an external authentication service.
When you configure remote authentication, you do not need to configure users on the system or assign additional passwords. You can use your existing passwords and user groups that are defined on the remote service to simplify user management and access, to enforce password policies more efficiently, and to separate user management from storage management.
If a user is configured on the system as a local user, only local credentials are used. Otherwise, users who are entering their password are authenticated against the remote service when they use the management GUI or the command-line interface (CLI). Their roles are determined according to group memberships defined on the remote service. If a user is configured on the system as a remote user with an SSH key, the user can additionally access the command-line interface by using this Secure Shell (SSH) key. Group memberships continue to be determined from the remote service.