I would say there is nothing like "always". It should depend on business needs.
In prod environment, it is recommended to use "automatic registration" instead of manual. (Here we need to implement LDAP at SUP level) and at start screen you may opt for HTTPAuthenticationLoginModule for authentication at backend level.
You can see other options as well in HWC settings screen. You may implement the same using Afaria.
Regards,
Jitendra