Benefits of Using a Spawner to Sign On to a Server

By default, the spawner encrypts the client's user ID and password that are sent to the spawner during sign-on. Without encryption, the user ID and password would pass through the network as clear, readable text, which presents a security risk.

To encrypt all data that flows through the network after sign-on (such as for remote submits and data transfers), you must use a security service. For details about security services that are supported in SAS 9.3, see Encryption in SAS.

A spawner can be used to control the number of ports that clients outside a firewall can use to access a server that is inside the firewall. Controlled client access facilitates a computer's security and economizes resources. For details, see Configuring SAS/CONNECT for Use with a Firewall.

The primary purpose of a sign-on script is to do the following:

Because the user ID and password can be directly specified as options in the SIGNON statement (or command), and the spawner controls the start-up of a SAS session on the server, the need for a sign-on script is eliminated.