What do directory services do

Although the concept of LDAP enjoys widespread industry support, there is incompatibility among LDAP-compliant applications because the standard does not specify a consistent naming scheme for accessing directories by such fields as name, address, phone number and e-mail address. So vendors have been using different ways for storing and maintaining this information. For example, a messaging client may want to browse an LDAP directory to retrieve a name and phone number.

LIPS solves this problem by defining the field name, size, and acceptable characters syntax , for 37 common attributes. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of attributes; in fact, most directories have far more than 37 fields. LIPS presents a baseline schema, containing only the minimum common fields that loosely define an individual. By adhering to these standardized attributes, client software vendors will be able to produce server-independent products using the LDAP standard.

To be fully compliant, a vendor must expose all of the LIPS attributes with the given field names and minimum sizes larger values are allowed. However, there is no requirement that the attributes contain any data. Last Word The X. JumpCloud Directory-as-a-Service has emerged to solve the critical issues many have faced including connecting users to what they need regardless of platform, provider, protocol, and location.

The benefit of this cloud directory services approach is increased security, less cost, and streamlined processes and infrastructure. As Iain Argent from Doublestruck put it:. You can explore the full platform, and it comes with ten users free forever. Why Use Directory Services? Share This Article. What is a Directory Service? Cloud Directory. Directory services are network services that identify every resource such as email address, peripheral devices and computers on the network, and make these resources accessible to users and applications.

Specific directory services called naming services map the names of resources in the network to the respective network address. This directory service relieves users from having to know the physical addresses of network resources. Directory services also define namespaces for networks, which hold one or more objects as name entries. Directory services hold shared information infrastructure to administer, manage, locate and organize common items and network resources.

It is also a vital component of network operating systems. Two of the most widely used directory services are Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, which is used for email addresses, and Netware directory service, which is used in Novell Netware networks. By: Justin Stoltzfus Contributor, Reviewer. By: Satish Balakrishnan.

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