To review, here are the steps involved in designing your directory topology:
Take a survey of your directory-enabled applications. Understand the scope of the directory data with which they need to interact. Understand the performance requirements.
If you have already decided on a particular vendor's directory server software, understand its practical limitations, especially the number of entries that can be stored in a partition and how easily partitions can be managed. If you are still in the decision-making process and selecting server software, consider these factors when making your purchase decision.
Review your physical network topology. Are there links that might be saturated by excessive directory trafficfor example, a WAN link? If so, strive to limit the amount of traffic that needs to span those links.
Review your directory namespace requirements and design. Does your namespace fit naturally with a partitioning arrangement that minimizes WAN traffic? Is another namespace arrangement a better fit?
