Handling New Data Sources

Unless your directory is very special-purpose, eventually you will need to add more data to it. Adding data involves integrating a new data source ”perhaps another database within your organization, a new application that needs to store things in the directory, or your users themselves . In any case, you'll need to plan to handle the new data, as outlined in the following steps:

Step 1. Design a schema to hold the new data.

Step 2. Design a security policy for the new data.

Step 3. Integrate the new data source into your data maintenance policy.

Step 4. Design a new data update procedure for the new source (or adopt an existing one).

Step 5. Assess the impact of integrating the new data source on your directory service as a whole.

Step 6. Implement the new data update procedure.

Step 7. Make sure that the update procedure works correctly.

Whatever your new data source is, you'll need to design a schema to hold the information in the directory. Make sure that the policy governing maintenance of the new data is integrated into and compatible with your existing data maintenance policies. Follow the policies outlined in the section titled The Data Maintenance Policy earlier in this chapter, and the policies suggested in Chapter 7, Data Design, to design the procedure by which the new information is updated. Finally, you'll need to implement the new procedure that embodies your data maintenance policy.

Following these steps should allow you to integrate new data sources with minimum disruption to the service. Make sure that you have an explicit plan for handling new data sources that covers all these steps in detail. Our experience has shown that integrating new data sources is a common task. If your directory service is popular and successful, many new applications will want to use it. Each application may well have specialized data that it needs to store or have available in the directory. The future success and growth of your service depend in large part on how well you respond to these needs. As with all substantial changes to your directory service, be sure to pilot the change before deploying a new data source in production.

Chapter 23, Directory Coexistence, talks about this topic in great detail. Chapters 21, Developing New Applications, and 22, Directory-Enabling Existing Applications, talk in great detail about creating applications that use the directory.