Chapter 3. Active Directory as a Meta-Directory

Earlier in this book, the importance of directories in our everyday lives was discussed. We need to look up phone numbers and email addresses. Applications that we use store profiled information in a directory. Our ability to log in to our workstation is governed by information in a directory. Not only are directories central to our ability to function in an electronic society, multiple directories are important. Consequently, the integration of directories, and the information in them, is a critical success factor for the knowledge worker in today's business environment.

This chapter focuses on Active Directory as the central technology in a meta- directory strategy. This includes using Active Directory as a central repository for application and organization data, as well as examining integration with Novell Directory Services (NDS) and X.500.

What is a meta-directory? The first section of this chapter addresses the fundamentals of what a meta-directory is and how Active Directory can begin to meet the criteria of a meta-directory. These criteria include

• Integration with other directories via an industry-recognized standard interface

• Extensibility

• Reliability

• Scalability

How will Active Directory integrate as a meta-directory with a directory based on NetWare directory services? The second section of this chapter addresses some of the technical requirements to integrate Active Directory with an NDS solution in a long-term coexistence environment.

How will Active Directory integrate with and leverage X.500 directory standards? In the words of Microsoft, Active Directory is "X.500-like." What this means is that Active Directory uses X.500 elements, such as organizational units (OUs) and given names (GNs), but it does not fully comply with the X.500 standards. The third section of this chapter addresses some of the challenges of integrating Active Directory with a directory based on the X.500 standard.

How can Active Directory be integrated in a heterogeneous environment? The final section describes how someone might put Active Directory into a corporate environment that might have other defacto standards. In addition, it addresses how to use Active Directory as the central directory resource within a heterogeneous environment.