Hi,

I have build a Visual C++ application that needs to be activated by a serial number based on some parameters of the local PC. That works fine, but i'd like to take it a step further and use an authentication server. The application would need to connect to the server ( on the internet ), and then enter a login and password to be activated. These login/password
would be valid for a certain period of time...

I guess this is pretty standard, but i know nothing about authentication server. So can someone let me know what is the easiest way to go, give some basic guidelines, and some place to get informations about this? Also since the server would be on the internet, is it easy to find a provider that will let you manage entirely this server?

Thanks
Regards