Who holds the identity of all users and generates tokens for known users?

The federated identity provider is crucial for handling user identities across multiple domains, enabling a seamless experience when users access various services. This entity is responsible for holding the identity of all users and generating secure tokens for known users, allowing them to authenticate and gain access to different applications without the need to log in separately for each one.

By managing the token generation process, the federated identity provider ensures that user credentials are not repeatedly transmitted across networks, enhancing security. This is especially valuable in environments with multiple service providers, as it simplifies user management and supports single sign-on capabilities. The federated identity provider often streamlines user access while maintaining a high level of security through tokenization and encryption.

In contrast, an identity repository primarily serves as a database or storage for user identities rather than actively managing user sessions or generating tokens. Identity management encompasses a broader scope that includes not just identity creation and maintenance but also role-based access control, provisioning, and governance. While federated SSO relates to the concept of using a single set of credentials across multiple services, it does not specifically refer to the entity that holds user identities or generates tokens.