Red Hat Directory Server 8.0 Administrator's Guide

Preface
Red Hat Directory Server (Directory Server) is a powerful and scalable distributed directory
server based on the industry-standard Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). Directory
Server is the cornerstone for building a centralized and distributed data repository that can be
used in your intranet, over your extranet with your trading partners, or over the public Internet to
reach your customers.
This Administrator's Guide describes all of the administration tasks you need to perform to
maintain Directory Server.
1. Directory Server Overview
Directory Server provides the following key features:
• Multi-master replication — Provides a highly available directory service for both read and
write operations. Multi-master replication can be combined with simple and cascading
replication scenarios to provide a highly flexible and scalable replication environment.
• Chaining and referrals — Increases the power of your directory by storing a complete logical
view of your directory on a single server while maintaining data on a large number of
Directory Servers transparently for clients.
• Roles and classes of service — Provides a flexible mechanism for grouping and sharing
attributes between entries in a dynamic fashion.
• Improved access control mechanisms — Provides support for macros that dramatically
reduce the number of access control statements used in the directory and increase the
scalability of access control evaluation.
• Resource-limits by bind DN — Grants the power to control the amount of server resources
allocated to search operations based on the bind DN of the client.
• Multiple databases — Provides a simple way of breaking down your directory data to simplify
the implementation of replication and chaining in your directory service.
• Password policy and account lockout — Defines a set of rules that govern how passwords
and user accounts are managed in the Directory Server.
• TLS and SSL — Provides secure authentication and communication over the network, using
the Mozilla Network Security Services (NSS) libraries for cryptography.
The major components of Directory Server include the following:
• An LDAP server — The LDAP v3-compliant network daemon.
• Directory Server Console — A graphical management console that dramatically reduces the
effort of setting up and maintaining your directory service.
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