Enterprise Mac Administrator's Guide

Chapter 1. Directory Services

A directory service is the software that stores, organizes, and provides access to information in a directory. In the context that we will use the term throughout this book, we mean a database of users, groups, computers, and network devices such as printers. The directory service supplies that database to client computers. In most enterprise, educational, and larger institutions, common directory service implementations range from Microsoft's Active Directory (AD) to Novell's eDirectory, as well as the open source Open LDAP. Most modern directory services are based on standards developed in the public forum.

The most common standard architectural guidelines are defined in the X.500 model "The Directory: Overview ...