Crowd (Atlassian)
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| Crowd (Atlassian) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Crowd |
| Developer | Atlassian |
| Released | 2008 |
| Latest release | 3.x (varies) |
| Programming language | Java |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | Atlassian |
Crowd (Atlassian) is an identity management and single sign-on application developed by Atlassian to centralize authentication for enterprise applications. It provides centralized user management, single sign-on, and directory integration for suites of applications from vendors such as Atlassian and third parties like Confluence, Jira (software), Bitbucket, Bamboo (software), and Crowd (software) alternatives—while interoperating with standards and directories including LDAP, Microsoft Active Directory, SAML, OAuth 2.0, and OpenID Connect.
Overview
Crowd functions as an identity server that aggregates accounts from disparate directories and exposes federated authentication and authorization to applications such as Confluence, Jira (software), Bitbucket, Bamboo (software), Fisheye (software), Crucible (software), Zendesk, Jenkins (software), and enterprise portals. Administrators can map users and groups from sources like Microsoft Active Directory, OpenLDAP, Oracle Directory Server, and cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services IAM and Azure Active Directory into a unified directory. Crowd is designed to sit alongside application ecosystems produced by companies including Atlassian, Oracle Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, IBM, and Red Hat.
Features and Architecture
Crowd's architecture comprises a central server, web applications, and connectors that communicate over HTTP, LDAP, and RESTful APIs used by products such as Confluence, Jira (software), and Bitbucket. Key features include single sign-on (SSO) between integrated applications, delegated authentication, account synchronization, and centralized group management that enable permission propagation to tools like Bamboo (software), Fisheye (software), and Crucible (software). The product emphasizes high availability and clustering strategies that mirror architectures found in Apache Tomcat, Spring Framework, Hazelcast, and PostgreSQL replication setups to support enterprises such as NASA, Samsung, Nike, and Twitter (service) integrating multiple identity stores. Crowd's plugin and REST API model allows extensions similar to ecosystems around Atlassian Marketplace, Apache HTTP Server, and Eclipse (software) plugins.
Integration and Supported Systems
Crowd supports integration with directory services and identity providers including Microsoft Active Directory, OpenLDAP, Oracle Directory Server, Azure Active Directory, Okta, and OneLogin. It also interoperates with protocols and frameworks like SAML, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, and LDAP used by software from Atlassian, Atlassian Marketplace partners, continuous integration systems such as Jenkins (software), collaboration platforms like Confluence and Slack (software), and source control platforms including GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket. Connectors enable group synchronization and nested group semantics common to directories in enterprises like Google (company), Facebook, Inc., and Apple Inc..
Security and Authentication
Crowd implements delegated authentication, password policies, and multi-factor authentication integrations compatible with providers such as Duo Security, YubiKey, and Okta. It supports encrypted communication channels via Transport Layer Security and certificate management practices used by Let's Encrypt, Entrust, and corporate public key infrastructures associated with Microsoft Corporation and Amazon Web Services. Crowd's approach to session management, token issuance, and audit logging echoes designs used in identity systems like Keycloak, Auth0, Shibboleth, and Ping Identity to satisfy compliance regimes referenced by entities such as ISO, SOC 2, and GDPR-affected organizations.
Deployment and Licensing
Crowd is distributed by Atlassian under a proprietary commercial license with pricing tiers aimed at enterprises, similar to licensing models used by Atlassian, Oracle Corporation, and Microsoft Corporation. Deployment options include on-premises installations on application servers such as Apache Tomcat and containerized deployments leveraging orchestration platforms like Docker and Kubernetes. Enterprises commonly pair Crowd with relational databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle Database, and Microsoft SQL Server for persistence, and adopt backup and high-availability patterns used in deployments by Netflix, Dropbox, and Salesforce.
History and Development
Crowd was first released by Atlassian in 2008 and evolved alongside Atlassian products including Confluence, Jira (software), and Bitbucket. Its roadmap and feature set have been influenced by standards and competitors such as SAML, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, Keycloak, and Okta. Over time Crowd added support for federation, REST APIs, and connectors for Microsoft Active Directory and LDAP deployments common in enterprises like IBM, Siemens, and Adobe Inc.. Development practices reflect methodologies and tools used across the software industry including Agile software development, continuous delivery patterns championed by Google (company) and Amazon Web Services, and plugin ecosystems exemplified by Atlassian Marketplace.