Directory services matter to nearly every organization because they help centrally manage information and thereby reduce the costs of computing services. LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is a set of protocols that have become the internet standard for accessing directories. Many people need to understand directory services and LDAP in order to make decisions for their business. The books currently available are too advanced for technical managers and those new to directory services. This book is designed to fill that need. The author spends the first half of the book exploring how directory services and LDAP work and then the second half discussing the most popular implementations - OpenLDAP, Microsoft Active Directory, and Directory Server - for those who are trying to compare products. This book provides the technical foundation that will enable IT managers to make sound business decisions and developers to move on to more advanced books.

Install, Configure, Build, and Integrate Secure Directory Services with OpenLDAP server in a networked environment

Be more productive and make your life easier. That's what LDAP System Administration is all about.System administrators often spend a great deal of time managing configuration information located on many different machines: usernames, passwords, printer configurations, email client configurations, and network filesystem configurations, to name a few. LDAPv3 provides tools for centralizing all of the configuration information and placing it under your control. Rather than maintaining several administrative databases (NIS, Active Directory, Samba, and NFS configuration files), you can make changes in only one place and have all your systems immediately "see" the updated information.Practically platform independent, this book uses the widely available, open source OpenLDAP 2 directory server as a premise for examples, showing you how to use it to help you manage your configuration information effectively and securely. OpenLDAP 2 ships with most Linux® distributions and Mac OS® X, and can be easily downloaded for most Unix-based systems. After introducing the workings of a directory service and the LDAP protocol, all aspects of building and installing OpenLDAP, plus key ancillary packages like SASL and OpenSSL, this book discusses: Configuration and access control Distributed directories; replication and referral Using OpenLDAP to replace NIS Using OpenLDAP to manage email configurations Using LDAP for abstraction with FTP and HTTP servers, Samba, and Radius Interoperating with different LDAP servers, including Active Directory Programming using Net::LDAP If you want to be a master of your domain, LDAP System Administration will help you get up and running quickly regardless of which LDAP version you use. After reading this book, even with no previous LDAP experience, you'll be able to integrate a directory server into essential network services such as mail, DNS, HTTP, and SMB/CIFS.

Focusing on the practical application of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, this tutorial is geared toward IS professionals and software developers who are responsible for getting the maximum potential from their directories by integrating them with existing processes and applications. As the Internet standard for directory services, LDAP is accepted as a critical service and is poised to become an important means of remote information access. Numerous examples demonstrate the best techniques for managing directory data in a network environment. Fundamentals of LDAP design and integration with applications, including messaging, XML, and security services, are provided with examples in Java.

Book Description Understanding Directory Servicesclarifies the complex topic of directory services, starting with basic theory and archetypes, and then working its way up to the current directory service implementations. It describes the basic idea behind directory services, explaining the underlying conceptual models, design characteristics, and methods of managing distributed information. The book begins with an overview of directory services and their core characteristics, highlighting critical aspects of directory information, distribution, and storage. The evolving nature of the information the directory contains, and the factors involved in organizing and managing it are discussed in detail, and then methods of information distribution and storage are examined at length. After exploring the basics of directory service, the book progresses to in-depth chapters on each of the critical technologies being used to implement directory services: * The X.500standards are explained to help you understand the foundations of directory services and provide a basis for comparison of the other directory technologies. *Lightweight Directory Access Protocol(LDAP) and its emerging role as a directory access standard is described in detail, with thorough explanations of models, naming, and operations. *The Domain Name System(DNS) is examined from a directory service perspective, noting parallels in structures and operations. This knowledge of directory services is then used to describe the design of X.500 and LDAP based directory service products, as well as NDS eDirectory and Active Directory, highlighting the architectural and operational implications of vendor's design decisions. This book: * Explores X.500-based directory products (eTrust, DirX, Nexor), and highlights implementation approaches and capabilities. * Describes the LDAP-based directory products (OpenLDAP, SecureWay, iPlanet), identifying similarities and differences between them. * ExplainsNDS eDirectorydescribing the underlying directory architecture and its foundations in X.500, and its evolution from an NOS-based directory to a general purpose directory service. * Examines howActive Directoryintegrates NT 4, LDAP, and DNS technologies into a directory service that leverages established Windows networks. * Explores the information management issues that meta-directories (Siemens DirXmetahub, iPlanet meta-directory, Microsoft Meta-directory Services, Novell DirXML) are designed to address, and characteristics of different types of meta-directory solutions (as well as Radiant Logic'sRadiant Onevirtual directory server). * Identifies the design of XML-based directory markup languages that map directory schema, objects, and operations providing directory interoperability. The final chapter is focused on helping you evaluate directory services in the context of your business and network environment. Information, business, and network control factors are identified, and key factors in directory service assessment are explained. Understanding Directory Servicesis an excellent reference for directory service technologies that includes extensive references and aglossarycontaining 385 directory service terms. By explaining key directory technologies, and the integration of those technologies, this book provides the information you need to understand the design and operations involved in all directory services. From the Back Cover Understanding Directory Servicesis the most in-depth resource available on directory services theory, architecture, and design. It provides the conceptual framework and critical technical information for IT professionals who are using directory services in their networks or e-business solutions. The 1st edition of this book covered the underlying directory service technologies (X.500, LDAP, DNS), and integrated the information from a networking perspective with a special focus on eDirectory and Active Directory. The 2nd Edition extends this coverage to the LDAP-based directories (such as iPlanet and SecureWay) and the X.500-based enterprise directory services (including eTrust, DirX, and Nexor), as well as the emerging meta-directory technologies and products which are crucial to the integration of the multiple directories in an enterprise networking environment. By explaining the origins and technologies of directory services, and clarifying the integration of key directory technologies into network and e-commerce platforms,Understanding Directory Servicesgives you the information you need to understand the underlying design and operations involved in all directory services. Reviews of the first edition Warren E. Wyrostek -- MCP Magazine ...superb, comprehensive...highly recommend it to all network professionals...a must read for anyone wrestling with deploying a directory service... Douglas Ludens -- About.com ...clearly organized and well written...a great book, I highly recommend it...essential to doing well with Windows 2000...

Annotation IT planners and systems administrators familiar with basic Solaris system administration functions who know some NIS, NIS+, and DNS will find this a useful guide to implementing corporate naming services infrastructure and installing and managing the directory server and supporting services. LDAP concepts are taught in the course of the guide which instructs the reader in Solaris naming services, its architecture and security models, iPlanet directory server installation and configuration, Solaris 8 Native LDAP and NIS extensions configurations, capacity planning and performance tuning, deploying available LDAP data services, preventive maintenance, managing and consolidating directory services, and interoperability with Windows. Both authors are affiliated with Sun Microsystems. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is the standard for directory information access and is the underlying protocol for a variety of email systems, Web systems, and enterprise applications. LDAP enables central management of users, groups, devices, and other data, thereby simplifying directory management and reducing the total cost of ownership. Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services, written by the creators of the protocol, is known as the LDAP bible and is the classic text for learning about LDAP and how to utilize it effectively. The Second Edition builds on this success by acting as an exhaustive resource for designing, deploying, and maintaining LDAP directory services. Topics such as implementation pitfalls, establishing and maintaining user access to information, troubleshooting, and real-world scenarios will be thoroughly explored.