HP-UX Directory Server 8.1 deployment guide

The o=NetscapeRoot and dc=example,dc=com suffixes are both root suffixes. The
ou=testing,dc=example,dc=com suffix, the ou=development,dc=example,dc=com
suffix, and the ou=partners,ou=development,dc=example,dc=com suffix are all subsuffixes
of the dc=example,dc=com root suffix. The root suffix dc=example,dc=com contains the
data in the ou=marketing branch of the original directory tree.
Using multiple root suffixes The directory service might contain more than one root suffix. For
example, an ISP called "Example" might host several websites, one for example_a.com and one
for example_b.com. The ISP would create two root suffixes, one corresponding to the
o=example_a.com naming context and one corresponding to the o=example_b.com naming
context. The directory tree would appear as follows:
Figure 5-6 Directory tree with multiple root suffixes
The dc=example, dc=com entry represents a root suffix. The entry for each hosted ISP is also
a root suffix (o=example_a and o=example_b). The ou=people and the ou=groups branches
are subsuffixes under each root suffix.
5.3 About knowledge references
After distributing the data over several databases, define the relationship between the distributed
data using knowledge references, pointers to directory information held in different databases. The
Directory Server provides the following types of knowledge references to help link the distributed
data into a single directory tree:
Referrals The server returns a piece of information to the client application indicating that
the client application needs to contact another server to fulfill the request.
Chaining The server contacts other servers on behalf of the client application and returns
the combined results to the client application when the operation is finished.
The following sections describe and compare these two types of knowledge references in more
detail.
5.3.1 Using referrals
A referral is a piece of information returned by a server that informs a client application which
server to contact to proceed with an operation request. This redirection mechanism occurs when
a client application requests a directory entry that does not exist on the local server.
Directory Server supports two types of referrals:
Default referrals The directory returns a default referral when a client application
presents a DN for which the server does not have a matching suffix.
Default referrals are stored in the configuration file of the server. One
62 Designing the directory topology