Novell eDirectory - Full Service Directory
Taxonomy
Directories and Services
For any system to qualify as a directory, it must provide for discovery, security, storage and relationship management. The distinction between directories and databases hinges largely on connotation; directories presently connote the storage of information describing people and access via a directory-specific protocol such as DAP, NDAP or LDAP. In order for any system to qualify as a service, it must not be dedicated to a single application or product.
The Minimal Directory Service
In order to be classified as a directory service, a product must provide for the following basic functionality:
| Discovery | Security | Storage | Relationship |
| Publication | Authentication | Persistence | Organization |
| Search | Collection | ||
| Identification | Reference | ||
| Retrieval |
The Full-Service Directory
A full-service directory is a multi-purpose, reusable manager of discovery, security, storage, and relationship. The functions which correspond to these areas are as follows:
A qualitative distinction is very much part of the definition for a full-service directory. For example, it is not enough for a directory to provide rudimentary search capabilities - instead it must support standard access protocols and APIs.
Continue your Full Service Directory education: FSD Architecture