Product Briefing: Directory-Enabled Services

Other terms you may encounter in Directory Services:

  • Directory-Enabled Network (DEN) refers to the ability of network administrators to manage the a network from a central information database of users, devices and applications in a network. Directory-enabled networks are the foundation for directory-enabled services.
  • Directory-Enabled Applications (DEA) are applications that make use of the directory for automating aspects of their installation, distribution, and maintenance.
  • Common Information Model (CIM) is model for describing management information. CIM allows different management applications to collect required data from a variety of sources. CIM includes schemas for systems, networks, applications and devices. It also provides mapping techniques for data interchange with (Management Information Base) MIB data from SNMP agents.
  • Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is a protocol used to access a directory listing. LDAP support is being implemented in Web browsers and e-mail programs. LDAP is a sibling protocol of HTTP and FTP.
  • Novell Directory Services (NDS) is Novell’s flagship directory service introduced with Netware 4.0.
  • Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEN) is an umbrella term for using Internet technologies to manage systems and networks throughout the enterprise. Both browsers and applications can be used to access the information that is made available in formats such as HTML and XML. WBEM uses the Common Information Model (CIM) as the database for information about computer systems and network devices.

For more information on Directory enabled networks see the CrossNodes Technology Briefing, Is Your Network Directory-Enabled?, or try the following keywords:

  • directory
  • directory service
  • NDS
  • DEN
  • DEA
  • NOS
  • network architecture
  • network management

Product Listing

Vendor:  Novell
Product: NDS eDirectory  8.5 
Operating systems: Netware 5.X ; Windows 2000/NT, Linux 2.2 and glibe 2.1.3;
                   Solaris 2.6, 7 or 8; Compaq Tru64 UNIX 4.0 (DIGITAL UNIX) 
                   or Tru64 UNIX 5.0
Features: LDAP compliant; X.500-based; NICI and SAS security components 
www.novell.com/products/nds/

Vendor:  Microsoft
Product: Active Directory 
Operating Systems: Windows 2000; Windows NT
Features: LDAP compliant; DNS based; supports multiple authentication protocols
www.microsoft.com/windows2000/technologies/directory/default.asp

Vendor:  iPlanet (Sun-Netscape alliance)
Product: Directory Server 5.0 
Operating Systems: Solaris 2.6, 8; HP-UX 11.0; IBM AIX 4.3.3; 
                   Windows NT 4; Windows 2000
Features: LDAP compliant; supports X.509 digital certificates 
www.iplanet.com/products/iplanet_directory/home_2_1_1z.html

This product briefing originally appeared on internet.com’s CrossNodes.com