Specifications

17
Use this chapter to learn about directory domains, how they
are used, and how they are organized.
Benets of Using Directory Services
A directory service provides a central repository for information about computer users
and resources in an organization.
Storing administrative data in a central repository has many benets:
It reduces data entry eort. Â
It certies that network services and clients have consistent information about users Â
and resources.
It simplies administration of users and resources. Â
It provides identication, authentication, and authorization information for other Â
network services.
In education and enterprise environments, directory services are the ideal way to
manage users and computing resources. Organizations with as few as 10 people can
benet by deploying a directory service.
Directory services are doubly benecial: they simplify system and network
administration, and they simplify a user’s experience on the network.
With directory services, administrators can maintain information about all users—such
as their names, passwords, and locations of network home directories—centrally,
rather than on each computer. Directory services can also maintain centralized
information about printers, computers, and other network resources.
Centralizing information about users and resources can reduce the system
administrator’s information management burden, and each user has a centralized user
account for logging in on any authorized computer on the network.
1
Directory Services with Open
Directory