Architecture and design for central authentication and authorization in an on-demand utility environment using a secured global hashtable

A method for authorizing a service request associated with a digital certificate to a web service application that does not recognize the digital certificate comprising:

• intercepting the service request associated with the digital certificate from a service client to the web service application;
• extracting a client identifier from the digital certificate;
• storing the client identifier in a secured data structure;
• encrypting the secured data structure using a key;
• forwarding the service request to a web service manager having the key;
• responsive to receiving an authorization request from the web service manager, the authorization request containing the key, using the key to retrieve the client identifier from the secured data structure;
• matching the client identifier with a service client record in an authorization log;
• and
• responsive to matching the client identifier with the service client record in the authorization log, sending an authorization for the service request to the web service manager;
• wherein, responsive to receiving the authorization for the service request, the web service manager sends the service request to the web service application.