AMS-AC (Authorization Management System) and databases for access control

The concept for AMS-AC (Authorization Management System for Access Control) was developed in 1996/1997 with the participation of the Divisions AS, DSU, PE, PPE, ST and TIS. It covers the entrance rules to CERN, the types of CERN cards, and the access authorizations to controlled areas. The former paper-based procedure to obtain an access authorization has been transferred to a database driven system with electronic signatures. All necessary information are stored in the human resource database (HR). From there, the data is distributed to all card readers at CERN. A UNIX server controls the updating of the authorization data and performs automatic data transfers. Additionally, several procedures have been developed: 1) HTML-based on-line database checks for immediate data control; 2) Database verification procedures; 3) Automatic information distribution.