Red Hat Directory Server 8.0 Administrator's Guide

Section 1.1, “Creating Suffixes”
Section 1.2.1, “Using Referrals in a Suffix”
1.1. Creating Suffixes
Both root and sub suffixes can be created to organize the contents of the directory tree. A root
suffix is the parent of a sub suffix. It can be part of a larger tree designed for the Directory
Server. A sub suffix is a branch underneath a root suffix. The data for root and sub suffixes are
contained by databases.
A directory might contain more than one root suffix. For example, an ISP might host several
websites, one for example.com and one for redhat.com. The ISP would create two root
suffixes, one corresponding to the dc=example,dc=com naming context and one corresponding
to the dc=redhat,dc=com naming context, as shown in Figure 3.2, “A Sample Directory Tree
with Two Root Suffixes”.
Figure 3.2. A Sample Directory Tree with Two Root Suffixes
It is also possible to create root suffixes to exclude portions of the directory tree from search
operations. For example, Example Corporation wants to exclude their European office from a
search on the general Example Corporation directory. To do this, they create two root suffixes.
One root suffix corresponds to the general Example Corporation directory tree,
dc=example,dc=com, and one root suffix corresponds to the European branch of their directory
tree, l=europe,dc=example,dc=com. From a client application's perspective, the directory tree
looks as illustrated in Figure 3.3, “A Sample Directory Tree with a Root Suffix Off Limits to
Search Operations”.
Chapter 3. Configuring Directory Databases
48