Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
A PAPER PRESENTATION
ON
LIGHT WEIGHT DIRECTORY ACCESS PROTOCOL
BY
JUDITH N. AKOBUNDU
MSc./EDUC/11242/2010-2011
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
DR. EZRA S. GBAJE
JUNE, 2011
INTRODUCTION
LDAP, Light Weight Directory Access Protocol, is an application protocol for reading and editing directories over an IP network. Wiki (2010). It is a standard technology for network directories. Network directories on the other hand are specialized databases that store information about devices, applications, people and other aspects of a computer network.
It is an Internet protocol that e mail and other programs use to look up information from a server. It is not limited to contact information or information about people. It is appropriate for any kind of directory like information where fast look-ups and less frequent updates exist.
It was created in 1995 as an academic university project, and then commercialized by Netscape in the late 1990’s. it is finding much acceptance because of its status as an Internet standard. It can also be customized to store any type of text or binary data.
It is important to note that it is not a directory but a protocol. However, it organizes information in a hierarchical manner using directories. And these directories can store a variety of information and can even be used like a Network Information Service (NIS). Hence, enabling anyone to access their account from any machine on the LDAP enabled network.
In many cases, it is used as a virtual phone directory, allowing users to easily access contact information of other users. But it is more flexible than a phone directory. This is because it is capable of referring a query to other LDAP servers throughout the world. Thus, providing an ad-hoc global repository of information.
OBJECTIVE
It is hoped that at the end of this discourse on LDAP even a layman would have a simple yet clear
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
A PAPER PRESENTATION
ON
LIGHT WEIGHT DIRECTORY ACCESS PROTOCOL
BY
JUDITH N. AKOBUNDU
MSc./EDUC/11242/2010-2011
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
DR. EZRA S. GBAJE
JUNE, 2011
INTRODUCTION
LDAP, Light Weight Directory Access Protocol, is an application protocol for reading and editing directories over an IP network. Wiki (2010). It is a standard technology for network directories. Network directories on the other hand are specialized databases that store information about devices, applications, people and other aspects of a computer network.
It is an Internet protocol that e mail and other programs use to look up information from a server. It is not limited to contact information or information about people. It is appropriate for any kind of directory like information where fast look-ups and less frequent updates exist.
It was created in 1995 as an academic university project, and then commercialized by Netscape in the late 1990’s. it is finding much acceptance because of its status as an Internet standard. It can also be customized to store any type of text or binary data.
It is important to note that it is not a directory but a protocol. However, it organizes information in a hierarchical manner using directories. And these directories can store a variety of information and can even be used like a Network Information Service (NIS). Hence, enabling anyone to access their account from any machine on the LDAP enabled network.
In many cases, it is used as a virtual phone directory, allowing users to easily access contact information of other users. But it is more flexible than a phone directory. This is because it is capable of referring a query to other LDAP servers throughout the world. Thus, providing an ad-hoc global repository of information.
OBJECTIVE
It is hoped that at the end of this discourse on LDAP even a layman would have a simple yet clear
References: Michael Donnelly (2008) “An Introduction to LDAP”. Retrieved 03/06/11 http://www.openldap.org/faq/data/cache/595.html S.O Sybase (2004) “User authentication using LDAP and active directory services for Sybase Adaptive Server enterprise Ukoha O Unknown (2010), What does LDAP do? Retrieved 03/06/11 http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_LDAP_do Unknown (2010), What is LDAP? Retrieved 03/06/11 http://www.gracian.com/sever/whatldap.html Unknown (2010), An LDAP Roadmap &FAQ. Retrieved 03/06/11 http://www.kingsmountain.com/ldapRoadmap.shtml Unknown (2010), What is a directory? Retrieved 03/06/11 http://engedi.net/Glossary.html Unknown (2010), Concept of LDAP. Retrieved 04/06/11 http://hitachi-id.com/concepts/ldap.html Unknown (2010), LDAP Terminology Unknown (2010), What is LDAP? Retrieved 04/06/11 http://www.ask.com/wiki/LDAP