The Sun Internet Mail product has an integrated LDAP directory. Its primary goal is to serve the needs of email users. Directory Services stores information such as email addresses, distribution lists, and the location of email servers. It also stores user information not directly related to email, such as telephone numbers, postal addresses, login IDs, and URLs. The LDAP directory can be accessed by users.
The following components provide the core functions of the LDAP Directory Service:
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Directory Server-Provides access to user, group and application data. It is a multithreaded LDAP server that uses a high-performance B-tree database for the directory data store. |
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Replication Server-Controls directory data replication. It propagates directory updates using a master/slave scheme. |
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Web Gateway-An HTTP/LDAP gateway that provides access to data directories from a standard World Wide Web browser. |
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Directory Administration-Provided by a Java Administration Console (see the Sun Internet Mail Server 3.5 Systems Administrator's Guide) and several command-line tools for directory data manipulation and for database management. |
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Directory Monitoring Agent-Supports directory monitoring. It provides access to directory management information. |
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Directory Synchronization Tool-Converts UNIX system user and distribution-list data into LDAP directory data format. |
The Sun Internet Mail product uses LDAP for directory access. However, it is not restricted to using just a single directory service. You may already have some form of directory service in use. Sun Internet Mail makes it possible to use existing data. The Sun Internet Mail product supports a native LDAP directory, making it a flexible and practical tool.
The following items define the external interfaces to the Directory Service:
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Directory Access is via the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol Version 2 (RFC 1777) and via the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (RFC 1945). LDAP data is represented according to RFC 1778, RFC 1779 and RFC 1558. |
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Directory Schema describes the format and structure of directory data. The Internet/COSINE X.500 schema (RFC 1274) and ITU X.520/X.521 schemas are supported. Additional schema objects are defined to support email routing and delivery. |
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External Data Representation is the LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF). This is a text representation of directory database data. |
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Directory Monitoring is via the Simple Network Management Protocol Version 1 (RFC 1157). The X.500 Directory Monitoring MIB (RFC 1567) and the Network Services Monitoring MIB (RFC 1565) are both supported. |