In the context of software, federation refers to a system design pattern that allows different systems or organizations to work together as if they were part of a single, unified system. In a federation, each system maintains control over its own resources and data, but can share that information with other systems in a controlled and standardized way.
Examples…
Federated identity management systems: These systems allow different organizations to share user authentication and authorization information, enabling users to access multiple systems with a single set of credentials.
Federated search systems: These systems allow users to search across multiple sources of information, such as databases, websites, and other online resources.
Federated data warehouses: These systems allow organizations to combine data from multiple sources into a single, unified database, while maintaining control over their own data.
Federated systems offer several advantages over centralized systems. For example, scalability, flexibility, distributed security, and higher availability because of no central point of failure.
However, federated systems also have some drawbacks, such as increased complexity and the need for careful management of data and resources across multiple systems.