• Computer Network Protocols (DMU)
• Internet Message Access Protocol
• Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
• Hauptstudium II

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

Corporates need directory services on almost every thinkable place. Questions like ``What's the e-mail address of the project leader?'' or ``Where is the next colour printer?'' take up a lots of time in daily live. Especially with all these new information services on todays large networks, such directories became more and more important. Users want centralised accounts and similar system structures independent of the workstation they are currently using.

All this problems do have solutions. The point is, that these solutions are all specialised for one specific problem --- users and administrators have to learn how to use many different programs. In addition this leads to the problem of interoperability and interchangeability. Almost any corporate LAN has it's own directory service, external users from other corporations can't use these most of the time because the systems are not compatible to each other.

A few years ago there was no single TCP/IP based directory standard, that could be easily implemented and used. Of course, there is the ISO/OSI X.500 protocol standard, a very heavyweighted directory service. It may be suitable for large-scale directories, but is not only difficult to implement but also uses a lots of resources, since its specification require the use of a full OSI protocol stack.

LDAP, the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, is designed to avoid these weaknesses. Though it is unlikely that a single specification will become a global standard, LDAP has the capability to bring the various existing directories together in a useful manner. The goal of this document is to analyse this standard. This first part will show the more general aspects of LDAP and its history. The second part will go into the protocol itself and show a brief overview about the design and operation of an LDAP service. The third part will draw the conclusion and point out the advantages and disadvantages of LDAP.

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