Once heralded as the ultimate repository of information about users and applications, directories promised to let enterprises store all data in a central location and a standardized format. However, conflicting use of attributes, proprietary schema extensions, and the need for scalability, replication, and security often caused problems. Rather than building one central directory, organizations built and deployed a separate directory for each application or set of users. Inevitably, users and applications were represented in multiple directories, and applications needed to access data spread across multiple directories.
In an effort to resolve the problems associated with implementing multiple directories, companies have deployed metadirectory products, such as Microsoft Metadirectory Services (MMS), to present a unified view of directories to users and applications. However, not all applications can use metadirectories, and many enterprises have difficulty building metadirectories because of conflicts between attributes and schemas across individual directories. . . .
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