Directory services terms

This topic is an overview of Domino terminology around directory services.

central directory architecture

Directory architecture in an IBM® Domino® domain in which some servers store Configuration Directories and use primary Domino Directories on remote servers for lookups.

condensed directory catalog

A directory catalog created from the DIRCAT5.NTF template that is optimized for small size and used only on IBM Notes® clients.

Configuration Directory

A directory in a central directory architecture that contains only documents related to Domino configuration.

Contacts

A directory database on a Notes client created from the PERNAMES.NTF template that contains the names and addresses of users and groups added by Notes users.

directory server

A server whose purpose is providing directory services.

directory assistance

A feature used by servers to extend client authentication, name lookups, and LDAP operations to secondary directories.

directory assistance database

A database created from the DA.NTF template and used to configure directory assistance.

directory catalog

An optional directory database that can aggregate entries from multiple Domino directories into a single database. There are two kinds of directory catalogs: condensed directory catalogs (used on clients) and extended directory catalogs (used on servers).

Directory Assistance document

Document created in a directory assistance database that describes a secondary directory.

distributed directory architecture

Directory architecture in a Domino domain in which all servers use a local primary Domino Directory.

Domino Directory

A directory created automatically from the PUBNAMES.NTF template during first server setup that describes the users, servers, connections, and access control information for a Domino domain, or a directory created manually from the PUBNAMES.NTF.

Domino domain

A network of clients and servers whose users, servers, connections, and access control information is described in a Domino Directory.

extended directory catalog

A directory catalog used by servers that, to facilitate quick name lookups, retains the individual documents and the multiple, sorted views available in the Domino Directory. You create an extended directory catalog from the PUBNAMES.NTF template. Servers use directory assistance to locate an extended directory catalog.

extended ACL

An optional directory access control feature available for a Domino Directory and extended directory catalog used to apply restrictions to users' overall directory access.

LDAP schema

A set of rules that defines what can be stored as entries in an LDAP directory. The Domino LDAP Schema database (SCHEMA.NSF), which is created from the SCHEMA.NTF template, publishes the schema for a domain.

LDAP service

The LDAP server task running on a server to process LDAP client requests.

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

A standard Internet protocol for accessing and managing directory information. LDAP is a simpler version of the X.500 protocol that supports TCP/IP.

mobile directory catalog

Alternate name for a condensed directory catalog set up on a Notes client.

In releases of Domino starting with 8.5.1, a condensed directory catalog is no longer supported on a Domino server; therefore all condensed directory catalogs are now mobile directory catalogs. For servers, always use an extended directory catalog. If you have a mixed-release Domino environment, condensed directory catalogs set up on servers running 8.5 and earlier are still supported.

primary Domino Directory

The Domino Directory that a server searches first and that describes the Domino domain of the server.

remote LDAP directory

A directory on a remote LDAP server accessed via directory assistance.

remote primary Domino Directory

In a central directory architecture, a primary Domino Directory that a server with a Configuration Directory uses remotely.

secondary directory

Any directory a server uses that is not its primary Domino Directory.

secondary Domino Directory

Any Domino Directory a server uses that is not its primary Domino Directory.