InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
June 1, 1998
Directory Services For Network Management
By
Monua Janah
irectory services could create a tighter relationship between the physical and logical world of networks. Microsoft and Cisco Systems are cooperating on a version of Microsoft's Active Directory that will run on both Windows NT and the various flavors of Unix. Active Directory, w
hich is tightly integrated into the NT registry, would include information about all routers and switches in the network.
Cisco last month unveiled Cisco Networking Services, a strategy and set of forthcoming products that will use Active Directory as the repository for policies governing network security and the allocation of network bandwidth. Cisco, Microsoft, and other vendors are also promoting the Directory Enabled Networks initiative, which is expected to be turned over to the Desktop Management Task Force for consideration as a standard. DEN is aimed at providing an infrastructure for applications that use the directory to manage network resources.
The Cisco-Microsoft initiative could result in a directory that allows a unified view not only of desktops and servers but also of network traffic and the entire network topology. This entails extending Active Directory in a variety of ways, including support for dynamic objects, since network traffic is never static.
Successful implementation could mean a tighter relationship between the network infrastructure and the needs of applications or users, with the directory controlling the interaction between them.
Bay Networks has rolled out an access router that supports the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, with the aim of eventually using an LDAP-based directory to set networkwide rules for dynamically prioritizing the allocation of network bandwidth for particular groups of users or applications.
3Com supports network policies in its TranscendWare network-management software. Lucent Technologies recently updated its LDAP-based directory server, intended to be used for network management.
In most cases, the vendors are aiming these products at carriers and Internet service providers as well as large enterprises. With Internet use growing exponentially, ISPs are eagerly seeking ways to use existing bandwidth more effectively, rather than adding expensive capacity.
Another recent trend that cou ld help customers cut costs and avoid headaches is the integration of Domain Name Service and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol support into directories and network-management software. Direc- tories could help administrators regain control of the link between user ID and IP. Novell recently announced DNS and DHCP integration into Novell Directory Service. Microsoft's Active Directory includes support for DNS.
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Illustration by David Chen
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