Replication of Directory Services Example

Directory services can be replicated to distribute transactions across different servers, providing high availability. Directory Server provides various strategies for replication of services, including the following:

• Multiple databases. Stores different portions of a directory tree in separate databases.

• Chaining and referrals. Links distributed data into a single directory tree.

• Single master replication. Provides a central source for the master database, which is then distributed to consumer replicas.

• Multi-master replication. Distributes the master database among several servers. Each of these masters then distributes their database among consumer replicas.

Availability strategies for Directory Server is a complex topic that is beyond the scope of this guide. The following sections, Single Master Replication and Multi-Master Replication provide a high-level view of basic replication strategies. For detailed information see Chapter 12, Designing a Highly Available Deployment, in Sun Java System Directory Server Enterprise Edition 6.0 Deployment Planning Guide.