LDAP Directories Explained: An Introduction and Analysis

Product Author Bios

Brian Arkills works as a software engineer at the University of Washington, where he performs systems administration, analysis, and project management. While at Stanford University, Brian used LDAP technology to extend Stanford's existing Netscape Directory Services to Microsoft clients via Microsoft Active Directory. In doing so, he found that there were no quality books that provided a basic introduction to the technology. He wrote this guide to fill that need.

Directory technology promises to solve the problem of decentralized information that has arisen with the explosion of distributed computing. Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is a set of protocols that has become the Internet standard for accessing information directories. Until now, however, those curious about LDAP had no introductory source to learn how the technology can help them centrally manage information and reduce the cost of computing services.

LDAP Directories Explained provides technical managers and those new to directory services with a fundamental introduction to LDAP. This concise guide examines how the technology works and gives an overview of the most successful directory products in an easy-to-reference format.

Key topics include:

• An overview of LDAP, including how directories differ from databases
• The LDAP namespace, with an overview of DNS, LDAP object structure, and LDAP object naming
• Client LDAP operations, including directory-enabled services and applications, searches, and the LDAP protocol
• LDAP schema, including object classes, attributes, syntaxes, matching rules, and more
• Directory management, including directory integration strategies, metadirectories, security, and more
• LDAP vendors OpenLDAP, Microsoft Active Directory, and Directory Server
• A case study of Stanford University's directory architecture, which illustrates how integral an LDAP directory can become to a business

If you are an information technology manager, LDAP Directories Explained will provide the technical foundation you need to make sound business decisions about LDAP. If you're a developer, this straightforward reference will bring you quickly up to speed on LDAP and directories.

Table of Contents

Foreword.


Preface.


Acknowledgments.

I. HOW LDAP WORKS.

II. HOW VENDORS HAVE IMPLEMENTED LDAP.

APPENDIXES.

Preface

LDAP stands for the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. LDAP is a protocol used to communicate with a directory, and it is safe to say that LDAP is the predominant directory protocol. These days directories are everywhere. Many enterprise software packages require a directory. Companies that want to reduce costs and streamline their business implement a directory.

Not so long ago, I knew nothing about LDAP. Because Stanford, my employer, was implementing and integrating Active Directory with its existing directory, I needed to understand LDAP and how directories worked. However, I found that the resources for a novice were sparse and hard to find, and that none of the books on the subject took me from novice to competency. During the course of the Stanford project, I met David Chappell and worked closely with him. This lead to an invitation from Addison-Wesley, and I embarked on writing this book. I hope it meets your needs and fills the gap I found.

This book is part of the Independent Technology Guide series. This series focuses on giving you an independent look at a technology, and tries to do it with a no-nonsense approach. David Chappell, the series editor, likes to say that the series should be called "Big Pictures 'R' Us". This is because each of the books in this series tries to give you a good idea of where this technology fits into the larger world. We often find that technical managers love this series because they give a good explanation of all the acronyms and buzzwords they hear. However, this book is also very appropriate for someone who is more technically savvy, but looking to break into LDAP and directories. You'll note that almost every LDAP book on the market is written for developers, and those who don't write code are left in the dark. This book takes a new approach and provides a thorough introduction for a newcomer regardless of their orientation or technical background.

The book is broken down into two larger sections. Section One explores how LDAP and directories work in general. This book is unique from other LDAP books in that it approaches the topic from a standards based, non-product centric perspective. Section Two explores three products, to get a more specific sense of how LDAP has been used. This overview of the most popular LDAP products will be very useful for those who are trying to compare products, but don't have a lot of time to do the research.

There are also several appendixes to augment the material presented in each of the chapters. When additional material is available it will be referenced in the chapter. I'd like to call your attention to two of the appendices in specific. Appendix C is a case study of Stanford University's directory architecture, where I worked for many years. It is intended to give you a real-world sense of how integral a LDAP directory can become to your business. Appendix G holds URLs for all the online reference material that I found and used while writing this book. Many people have indicated to me how invaluable this compilation of online resources was to their research.

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Foreword

LDAP recently celebrated its tenth birthday. For comparison, that's about the same age as the World Wide Web, half as old as the domain naming system, and around a third as old as the Internet itself. In its relatively short life, LDAP has grown from its obscure roots as an easier way to access the X.500 directory into the Internet standard for directories, used by virtually every e-mail client, browser, and a host of other applications, with more being developed every day. Like any successful technology, LDAP has taken on a life of its own, being used in ways its designers never imagined. I, for one, never thought when helping to design LDAP ten years ago that it would be used in the diversity of applications that it is today.

When I started work on LDAP, my ambitions were much smaller. I was simply trying to solve a problem on my own campus at the University of Michigan. I wanted to give desktops across the campus access to the central university-wide directory, which was based on X.500. This desire led to the creation of a protocol similar to LDAP called DIXIE. The popularity of DIXIE among a small community of similarly minded directory developers led to my joining forces with Steve Kille and Weng Yeong and to the creation of a standard version in LDAP.

LDAP's breakthrough to the mainstream, so to speak, came in 1996 when Netscape galvanized the industry around adopting LDAP as the Internet's commercially accepted directory protocol. Soon, all major vendors were on board, announcing plans to develop their own LDAP implementation, and LDAP was on its way to being a part of most users' everyday computing lives.

Often people that use LDAP are not even aware they are using it. It is the protocol used to access your corporate e-mail directory; LDAP may be consulted every time you access a private Web page; LDAP often stores configuration for the services you access. In these applications and others, LDAP provides the behind-the-scenes support needed to control access to resources and look up information. LDAP has also been used for applications ranging from storing and retrieving images to calculating chess moves.

In this book Brian Arkills has put together a broad treatment of LDAP for readers of varying technical backgrounds. It should prove useful to those seeking a more accessible introduction to the topic than has been previously available. As for me, I look forward to seeing what the next ten years will bring for LDAP.

Timothy A. Howes, Ph.D.
Opsware Inc.
Co-creator of LDAP

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