Enterprise Mac Security: Mac OS X Snow Leopard

16.3. Foundations of a Directory Service

One of the most substantial aspects of Mac OS X Server and its impact on a Mac OS X-based network is the ability to run directory services. Open Directory, Apple's native directory service technology, is built on open standards such as OpenLDAP, SASL, and Kerberos. Open Directory gives administrators the ability to centralize usernames and passwords for an environment, which increases security. But a directory service also allows for the ability to deploy policies to workstations over the network in a somewhat automated fashion. Using directory services, it becomes possible to lock down client computers with the security settings you want, to enforce password policies to keep users from having simple ...