[consulting] multisite with shared users, but with different roles

[Bèr Kessels]

Op donderdag 30 maart 2006 18:18, schreef Moshe Weitzman:
> Lets not overstate the issue. I have done lots of table sharing sites.
> The only downside I know of is that upgrades are slightly more
> difficult. Any other downsides?

Other issues: 
  * table sharing cannot be done cross server (sqlathentication allows this,
 provided you can remotely contact the SQL servers. so not ideal too). I see 
now that Boris said the same, sorry.
  * You must include a lot of tables, because Drupal does "hard coded" joins. 
from the top of my head, required tables are: roles, sessions, profiles, 
accessrules and sequences. SQL authentication checks only for an existing 
uname pw combination, so all the rest (roles etc) is not needed. 
  * Our server/security system does not allow site A to access the database 
from site B. In SQL terms: mysql user A has no rights on database B. Shared 
tables cannot work without opening up this system. We'd rather not. sqlauth 
logs in on the other database using a full sql string 
pgsql://foo:bar@remoteserver.tld/databaseB So even pg/mysql can be combined. 
  * I found no clean way (but maybe did not dig deep enough) to allow one site 
A, to have userprofiles and another site B, not have them. Yet still allow 
users to log in on B with the details from A. in drupal terms: I did not find 
a way not to share the profile tables, with required fields etc. We used A to 
collect our (private!) customer details, and still wanted them to use that 
account to wander on the network of other sites using the details from that 
account.
 
Downsides of sqlauthentication are:
 * You cannot say "if I am logged in on A, I am automagically logged in on 
B" (shared sessions). Its on the todolist.
 * If I log in on B, with details from A, then change my pw on B, A does not 
follow. its a downside of remote authentication, in general. Shared tables do 
not have this problem.

So, lets conclude that sharing tables is an option for a lot of cases. But 
often people need some different solutions, then sql authentication can come 
to rescue, with its particular downsides too.

Bèr