All About Network Directories

Book excerpt: A comprehensive guide to network directories with strategic advice for managing current resources and conquering network growing pains Roughly 80 percent of the money spent on managing electronic directories is due to needless duplication of work and information. For the average Fortune 500 company, which has anywhere from 180 to 1,000 different directories in its network, this duplication results in huge amounts of squandered revenue. The problem is that directory management is arguably the biggest and most confusing job faced by network managers. This book promises to take the headache out of the process, guiding you toward a streamlined, cost-efficient structure for migrating old directory systems and making the most of new ones in order to allow for rapid network growth. Whether your organization is large or small, this unprecedented guide demonstrates exactly how to sort out the current directory landscape and then effectively match and migrate each individual directory within a single, well-organized network. Beginning with a comprehensive overview of the range of possible directories, the authors discuss current and forthcoming directory applications and then offer detailed strategies for designing and maintaining the entire directory network. You'll also find the latest emerging trends in directory technology and gain a glimpse of things to come for directories in the future. * This practical, hands-on book: * Details the two major directory-related standards, X.500 and LDAP * Explains each component's role in a directory system * Provides an overview of network security * Discusses the role of directories and directory services in network management * Reviews each of the major network operating systems * Investigates the role of the directory in efforts to combine voice and electronic messaging * Covers the types of meta-directories and why to develop one Visit our Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/