Security hierarchy

PI AF uses Windows integrated security to authenticate users and establish their PI AF identities through mappings. PI AF uses the PI AF identities to control read, write, delete, and various other permissions on PI AF components shown in the following illustration. Each securable PI AF object (element, event frame, and notification, and so on) throughout the hierarchy has an associated security descriptor that contains the access permissions information for that object.

All PI AF objects of the same type belong to a collection. For example, every PI AF element in a database belongs to the Elements collection for that database. Each collection also has an associated security descriptor that contains access permission information. Security descriptors for some collections are configured for an entire PI AF server (such as Identities and Mappings), whereas others (such as Analyses, Elements, and Event Frames) can be configured for a specific database.

PI AF hierarchy of securable collections

For more information on collection security, see PI AF collection security.