Extended directory catalogs
You can set up servers to use an extended directory catalog. You create an extended directory catalog from the PUBNAMES.NTF template, the same template used to create the Domino® Directory. An extended directory catalog combines advantages of a Domino Directory and a condensed directory catalog. It aggregates entries from multiple Domino directories into a single directory database as does the condensed directory catalog, but it retains the individual documents and the multiple, sorted views available in the Domino Directory to facilitate quick name lookups.
Multiple views
Using an extended directory catalog on servers that route mail has a particular advantage, because a mail server can use views to quickly find an address regardless of the address format.
When a Notes® user with a condensed directory catalog on the client sends mail to a group, if the client's directory catalog does not contain the members of the group, there can be a delay while a server does a full-text search of a condensed directory catalog to look up the members. Delays when sending mail to groups are not an issue when mail servers use extended directory catalogs.
Ease of application access
Multiple-view, enterprise directory
Groups for database authorization
Servers can use groups in only one directory configured in a directory assistance database, in addition to the primary Domino Directory for authorizing database access. Using an extended directory catalog for this purpose effectively allows servers to use groups in any secondary Domino Directory aggregated in the directory catalog for database access control.
Remote lookups
Servers use Directory Assistance to locate an extended directory catalog, so you need to replicate the extended directory catalog to only two or a few strategic servers to which the Directory Assistance database then points. You can configure failover so that if one replica of the directory catalog is unavailable, servers can use an alternate.
Administrator control over rebuilds
Rebuilding a directory catalog removes all of the existing aggregated information, and then re-aggregates the information from the source Domino directories. Because this process is time-consuming, the Dircat task rebuilds an extended directory catalog only when an administrator indicates. Changing almost any field in the configuration document for a condensed directory catalog, by contrast, triggers the Dircat task to rebuild the directory catalog automatically.
Extended ACL and LDAP access control settings
You can use an extended ACL to refine the overall database access to an extended directory catalog. For example, you can deny access to sensitive fields, to entire documents associated with a particular part of a name hierarchy, and so forth. An extended ACL on an extended directory catalog is independent of any Extended ACLs set on the individual source Domino directories.
You can also create a Configuration Settings document in an extended directory catalog and use access control settings on the LDAP tab of the document to control anonymous LDAP search access to the directory catalog.
Native documents
Full-text index advantages
An extended directory catalog has multiple, sorted views, so in general no full-text index is required for lookups, which helps minimize disk space usage. A full-text index is required, however, if you want the LDAP service to use an extended directory catalog to process searches that use search filters based on something other than names or mail addresses.
One server using more than one catalog
A server can use more than one extended directory catalog, for example one that aggregates directories that are trusted for Internet client authentication, and another that aggregates directories that are not trusted for client authentication.
Integration into a primary Domino Directory
Because an extended directory catalog uses the same design as a Domino Directory, you can build an extended directory catalog directly into the primary Domino Directory for a domain, so that one directory contains the information for an entire enterprise.
Server documents
You can aggregate Server documents into an extended directory catalog.