System Administration Guide: Naming and Directory Services (DNS, NIS, and LDAP)

Naming Services: A Quick Comparison

 

DNS 

NIS 

NIS+ 

LDAP 

NAMESPACE 

Hierarchical 

Flat 

Hierarchical 

Hierarchical 

DATA STORAGE 

Files/ resource records 

2 column maps 

Multi-columned tables 

Directories [varied] 

SERVER NAMES 

Master/slave 

Master/slave 

Root master/non-root master primary/secondary cache/stub 

Master/replica 

SECURITY 

None 

None (root or nothing) 

Secure RPC (AUTH_DH) 

Authentication  

SSL, varied 

TRANSPORT 

TCP/IP 

RPC 

RPC 

TCP/IP 

SCALE 

Global 

LAN 

LAN 

Global