IT & MCIS

DEFINITION OF STANDARD:
Novell Directory Services (NDS) provide a cross platform set of directory services that are included in Novell NetWare. NDS can be deployed on MS Windows NT/2000, Sun Solaris and Linux servers. A directory service is a network service that identifies all resources on a network and makes them accessible to users and applications. NDS is a directory that stores information about network resources, as well as the services that make that information available and useful. The resources stored in the directory, such as user data, printers, servers, databases, groups, computers and security policies, are known as objects. The Enterprise Novell Directory Services Structure (ENDSS) is a directory plan for the University of Kentucky Enterprise that defines a hierarchical NDS tree.

RATIONALE:
The scope, business and departmental requirements of the University of Kentucky call for a securely managed ENDSS that will operate within the campus architectural framework. The ENDSS can provide the security and policy platform for NetWare servers, Microsoft Windows clients and servers, Sun Solaris workstations and servers, Linux workstations and servers, and Apple Macintosh computers.

PUBLICATION DATE: 1/28/00
REVIEW CYCLE: Six Months
EFFECTIVE DATE: August 15, 2000
REVISION DATE: June 5, 2003
RESPONSIBLE CONTACT: Matt DeFoor Directory Services Communications and Network Systems

Approved Standard(s):
Enterprise Novell Directory Services Structure

The current ENDSS consists of three [ROOT] servers each holding replicas of NDS partitions in the tree.

UKY serves as [ROOT] of the ENDSS tree with UKY also serving as the Organization. The UKY tree is designed according to the network infrastructure per Novell's recommendation of NDS tree design. These Organizational Units (OU) are comprised of the following:

Related Standards Adopted:

IP based Domain Naming System (DNS) as per RFC _____

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) version-2; read/write support of LDAP version-3.

Microsoft Active Directory Services (AD) version _____

Approved Product(s):
Novell NDS eDirectory
Novell NDS Corporate Edition
Novell NetWare
Microsoft Windows NT/2000
Sun Solaris Linux operating system

Technical and Implementation Considerations:
Scalability and cross-platform capabilities are important to a large enterprise because of the diversity of directory platforms, server platforms, applications and users. All enterprise directory services and structures must be capable of integrating into a single logical meta-directory and provide synchronization via LDAP.

The goal of the ENDSS is the consolidation of many directories across campus into fewer directories.