!!! Overview
[{$pagename}] ([SSP]) in [Microsoft Active Directory] is implemented via the [Security Support Provider Interface] which is part of the [Windows Client Authentication Architecture][{$pagename}]s work with  [authentication packages|Windows Authentication Package] following the [Security Support Provider Interface] ([SSPI]) APIs.

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[{$pagename}] are __NOT__ [Authentication Mechanisms]. They are used to gather and serialize [credentials]. The [Local Security Authority] ([LSA]) and [Windows Authentication Package] performs [Authentication].
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[Windows Server 2003]+, by default, has five [{$pagename}]:
* [Negotiate SSP] 
* [Kerberos SSP]
* [NTLM SSP]
* [Schannel SSP]
* [Digest SSP]
* [CredSSP]

However, because not all [Operating Systems] support the same [SSP] packages that Windows Server 2003 supports; [clients] and servers must negotiate to use a [protocol] that they both support. 

[Windows Server 2003] and later prefers clients to use [Kerberos SSP], a strong standards-based protocol, when possible, but continues to allow clients that do not support [Kerberos], such as [Windows NT] 4.0 [clients], to [authenticate]. 

Further, the [Security Support Provider Interface] is extensible and have other [Security Support Provider] [implementations].

!! More Information
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