Glossary

This glossary contains some basic Identity Manager terms and SIF terms used in this driver documentation.

Agent

A SIF term. SIF-enabled software that interfaces with an application on one side and a Zone Integration Server on the other side. The Agent is used to make the application’s data available to the Zone or to consume data from the Zone and to make it available to the application. The Identity Manager Driver for SIF is a SIF Agent.

shim

An Identity Manager term. Another word for driver.

Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF)

A SIF term. The Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) is an industry initiative to develop an open specification for ensuring that K-12 instructional and administrative software applications interact and share data seamlessly. SIF is not a product, but rather an industry-supported technical blueprint for K-12 software. For additional information about SIF, see the Schools Interoperability Framework Web site.

Connecting the applications with a common framework allows you to enter information once in an authoritative information source, such as a Student Information System (SIS), and then publish that information so other systems can be updated automatically.

Student Information System (SIS)

A SIF term. A K-12 application for maintaining student information. Some Student Information Systems also store faculty and staff information.

Publisher channel

An Identity Manager term. The work of provisioning SIF student or staff from the SIS to Novell® eDirectory™ users is done through the Publisher channel of Identity Manager. You can customize the configuration that comes with the driver.

For more information on the channels, see Novell Identity Manager 3.5.1 Administration Guide .

Subscriber channel

An Identity Manager term. In the base configuration, the student information system is the authoritative data source for student information, so no data is sent from the Identity Vault to the SIS through the Zone Integration Server (ZIS). The Subscriber channel is fully functional, but in the base configuration it is not used.

You can customize the Subscriber channel to send data changes made in the Identity Vault to SIF, if desired.

For more information on the channels, see the Novell Identity Manager 3.5.1 Administration Guide .

Zone

A SIF term. A grouping of SIF-enabled Agents for sharing data. A Zone might be small or large, servicing a school, several schools, or a district. An Agent must register with a Zone. The Zone manages the registered Agents.

Zone Integration Server (ZIS)

A SIF term. A software product that implements the SIF ZIS functionality and can also contain value-added management and configuration tools. A ZIS should be capable of supporting more than one Zone. The term ZIS is often used to mean a Zone.