Quality of Service Requirements for a Robust Directory Service

The more users and applications in an enterprise, the more critical is the need for a robust directory service. Directory Server Enterprise Edition addresses the challenges faced by a rapidly changing and expanding enterprise by providing the following quality of service requirements:

• Availability. A measure of how often the system's resources and services are accessible to end users, often expressed as the uptime of the system.

• Scalability. The ability to add capacity, and users, to a deployed system over time. Scalability typically involves adding resources to the system but should not require changes to the deployment architecture.

• Security. A complex combination of factors that describe the integrity of a system and its users. Security includes authentication and authorization of users, security of data, and secure access to the deployed system.

• Interoperability. The ease with which the system operates in conjunction with other systems.

• Serviceability. The ease with which a deployed system can be maintained. Maintenance tasks include monitoring the system, repairing problems that arise, and upgrading hardware and software components.

This chapter briefly describes how the components of Directory Server Enterprise Edition fill the quality of service requirements. The requirements are discussed in detail in the remainder of this guide.