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Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services > 22. Directory Coexistence > Why Is Coexistence Important?

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Why Is Coexistence Important?

In Chapter 17, "Maintaining Data," we discussed the importance of managing directory data to keep it accurate and up-to-date. The reasons are simple, and they all boil down to increasing the usefulness of the directory service. The arguments for directory coexistence are along similar lines, but they are motivated by the state of your enterprise. Chances are that you already have many directories, databases, and other data sources deployed in your organization. Following is a partial list of the common sources you might already have:

  • Operating system (OS) directories.   These include Novell Directory Services, Microsoft's Active Directory, Banyan's StreetTalk directory, UNIX's /etc/passwd file and NIS service, and others. These directories contain minimal information about users (such as name , login, and password), as well as information about OS- related devices and services (such as printers and file servers). The main job of these directories is to serve the needs of the operating system in which they are embedded. Although quite adept at that task, operating system directories make poor enterprise directories. However, they do often contain information, such as login and name, that might be useful in your enterprisewide directory.

  • Application-specific directories.   These include the Lotus Notes Name and Address Book, Microsoft's Exchange directory, Novell's GroupWise directory, the built-in authentication databases provided with most network services, and a host of other directories specific to one or a small number of applications. Each directory is designed to meet the needs of a single application. Often available only via proprietary protocols or APIs, these directories are seldom extensible, and, like operating system directories, they make poor enterprise directories. Such directories may contain information you'd like to make available in your directory, such as email address or name.

  • Corporate databases.   This broad category refers to databases such as those with information about corporate human resources, telephone operations, customer information, payroll, and so on. These databases often contain lots of interesting and useful information that should be made available through the enterprise directory service. Corporate databases are also usually integrated with existing business processes, from hiring and termination of employees to procurement and financial processes.

  • Home-grown databases.   As the name suggests, this category refers to the inevitable collection of ad hoc databases present in any organization. These might be maintained by departmental secretaries or local administrators, or they might be created for projects that have since been abandoned . Only you can determine how many of these databases exist in your organization and whether any of them contain useful information that should be included in your directory service.

  • Client data.   Do not forget your users as a source of data. If you choose to allow self- reported data, new data will flow from LDAP clients back to the servers. For example, you might allow users to update their own contact information or email address directly in the directory. It might be useful to allow this data not only to be published in the directory, but also to flow back to your human resources database.

All of these data sources serve a purpose (or did at one time). Some of them may be in the process of being phased out. Others are probably there to stay. Why should you be concerned about making your directory service coexist with these legacy data sources? Following are several reasons:

  • Jump-starting your directory.   One of the problems you face, as discussed in Chapter 6, "Data Design," is how to populate your directory with useful data. The best and easiest way to do this is to find another data source that already contains the data you want. This can save you substantial time and money in getting your directory populated with data.

  • Ease of data maintenance.   As discussed in Chapter 17, it's important to keep the data in your directory accurate and up-to-date. Continuing to feed your directory periodically from existing data sources can help achieve this goal. This arrangement can save you from having to institute complicated update procedures yourself. Instead, you can simply track data as it changes in the source database.

  • Avoiding duplicated data.   Maintaining data in multiple locations leads to inconsistencies, duplicated effort, increased costs, and a host of other problems. Using directory coexistence to maintain data in a single location helps reduce costs and problems.

  • Avoiding user confusion.   Duplicated data often leads to user confusion. Users often assume (reasonably so) that if they change some piece of information about themselves in one place, the change will be made in all other locations. Finding that a change of address made in the human resources database needs to be made again in the enterprise directory can lead to an unhappy and confused user.

Directory coexistence is often the biggest problem directory administrators face. Lack of directory coexistence can lead to user complaints, spiraling data management costs, and an ineffective and unpopular directory service. It's important to address this issue in your directory deployment, or at least to convince yourself that you don't need to.



Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services,  2002 New Riders Publishing
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Index terms contained in this section

/etc/passwd file (UNIX)
          coexistence
Active Directory
          coexistence
ad hoc databases
          directory coexistence
Address Book
          directory coexistence
applications
         directories
                    coexistence
avoiding
         duplicate data
                    directory coexistence
         user confusion
                    directory coexistence
Banyan StreetTalk directory
          coexistence
clients
         data
                    directory coexistence
coexistence (directories)
          application-specific directories
          client data
         databases
                    corporate
                    home-grown
          duplicate data, avoiding
          ease of maintenance
          increasing usefulness
          OS directories 2nd
          user confusion, avoiding
corporate databases
          directory coexistence
data
          directory coexistence
                    application-specific directories
                    client data
                    corporate databases
                    duplicate date, avoiding
                    ease of maintenance
                    home-grown databases
                    increasing usefulness
                    OS directories 2nd
                    user confusion, avoiding
databases
          directory coexistence:corporate
          directory coexistence:home-grown
directories
          coexistence
                    application-specific directories
                    client data
                    corporate databases
                    duplicate data, avoiding
                    ease of maintenance
                    home-grown databases
                    increasing usefulness
                    OS directories 2nd
                    user confusion, avoiding
duplicate data
         directory coexistence
                    avoiding
home-grown databases
          directory coexistence
Lotus Notes Name
          directory coexistence
maintenance
         data
                    directory coexistence
Microsoft Active Directory
          coexistence
Microsoft Exchange directory
          coexistence
NIS service
          coexistence
Novell Directory Services
          directory coexistence
Novell GroupWise directory
          coexistence
operating systems
         directories
                    coexistence
StreetTalk directory
          coexistence
UNIX
         /etc/passwd file
                    coexistence
users
         directory coexistence
                    avoiding confusion

2002, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.



Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services
Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services (2nd Edition)
ISBN: 0672323168
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 1997
Pages: 245

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