LDAP Service and LDAP Client

A directory service is a distributed database application designed to manage the entries and attributes in a directory. A directory service also makes the entries and attributes available to users and other applications. OpenLDAP server is an example of a directory service. Other directory services include Sun Active Directory Service (Sun Microsystems) and Microsoft Active Directory.

A directory client accesses a directory service using the LDAP protocol. A directory client may use one of several client APIs available in order to access the directory service.