LDAP Directory Service as a Tool For Implementation of Distributed Information Systems

The paper presents a detailed, systematized description of the LDAP directory service which includes: the structure of information represented in the directory, methods of the object organization and identification in LDAP, the architecture and possible implementation approaches to the distributed directory, basic operations applicable to the directory objects, and means for information protection against unauthorized access to the directory. The paper is based on the OSI and IETF standards for X.500 and LDAP, and documentation manuals on LDAP-servers and LDAP-clients developed by the Michigan University and companies Netscape, IBM, etc. The analysis enables to describe some important aspects of LDAP such as the mechanisms for organization and administering the distributed directory, which are not currently included into the standard and are not well described in the literature.