Specifications

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2 Open Directory Search Policies
Each computer has a search policy that specifies one or
more directory domains and the sequence in which
Open Directory searches them.
Every Mac OS X computer has a local directory domain and can also access shared
directory domains. Nothing prevents the directory domains from having
interchangeable records. For example, two directory domains could have user records
with the same name but other differences. Therefore, each Mac OS X computer needs a
policy for resolving potential conflicts between equivalent but not identical records.
Each Mac OS X computer has a search policy that specifies which directory domains
Open Directory can access, such as the computer’s local directory and a particular
shared directory. The search policy also specifies the order in which Open Directory
accesses directory domains. Open Directory searches each directory domain in turn
and stops searching when it finds a match. For example, Open Directory stops
searching for a user record when it finds a record whose user name matches the name
it’s looking for.
Search Policy Levels
A search policy can include the local directory alone, the local directory and a shared
directory, or the local directory and multiple shared directories. On a network with a
shared directory, several computers generally access the shared directory. This
arrangement can be depicted as a tree-like structure with the shared directory at the
top and local directories at the bottom.
LL2352.Book Page 27 Friday, August 22, 2003 3:12 PM