LDAP Directory Technology Review

Directory technology is getting widely adopted primarily because of the flexibility available to system analysts, designers and developers, as it provides an alternative to the design and schema constraints of the Relational Model. Although directories can not be regarded as a replacement for the Relational Model, switching from a RDBMS backend to a directory implementation offers significant benefits to the business, despite the limitations and architectural differences.

The OpenLDAP directory backend can form the foundation for the implementation of a highly competitive management application, with characteristics and functionality matching any similar solution available on the market. By storing all the configuration and application data in the OpenLDAP, the information can be more easily managed, as opposed to using a RDBMS and trying with intensive programming to develop the management application.

Some of the deliverables could not be finished within the specified time, as the integration of all the software packages needed for the successful operation of the proposed system failed due to compatibility issues with the Windows Operating System.

Once a solid architecture is implemented, the incorporation of functionality available on many competing systems can be integrated, given the resources and the time constraints. Competing systems, such as the Plesk Server Administrator, are being developed and evolved by a team consisting of developers, programmers, analysts and project managers.

One can argue that the OpenLDAP, Apache, MySQL, PHP, BIND, Qmail model is not mature enough for the implementation of such a solution, which is partly true as not all the software packages used for the network services provide support for operating with data stored in the directory.

However, the benefits to the system are significant. The resource usage required to operate the system can be reduced by multiple times, while the web hosting customers who are using a MySQL database backend for their websites will notice an improvement on the MySQL server response times.

Additionally, the directory schema, provided that the right design principles have been implemented, provides faster access to the data – as opposed to storing the data in a RDBMS – therefore indicating a performance improvement.

As time progresses and even more commercial software vendors releasing Directory Server implementations, the technology is expected to take centre stage over the next few years, as the ability to manage network services, hardware and applications using a directory backend is an advantage which few companies can afford to leave unnoticed.