When is a directory not a directory?

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: DAVE KEARNS ON IDENTITY MANAGEMENT
07/11/05
Today's focus: When is a directory not a directory?

Dear security.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* The SOA repository and SOA registry
* Links related to Identity Management
* Featured reader resource
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This newsletter is sponsored by Avocent
Network World Executive Guide:
Security Evolves. Automation, specialized 'ops centers' and
more.

For network security professionals, keeping a safe distance
ahead of the worst the bad guys have to offer is a never-ending
race. This guide is designed to help with a collection of news,
analysis and product test reviews for practical how-to advice on
subjects ranging from patch management and spyware to promises
and risks of automated security services.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=108277
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THE NEW DATA CENTER: SPOTLIGHT ON STORAGE

Network World's latest report takes a look at storage trends
such as virtualization, encryption and archiving. Here you will
also find seven tips for managing storage in the new data
center, how storage encryption can help ease the threat of
identity theft, why one exec believes its all about the
information and more. Click here:
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=107933
_______________________________________________________________

Today's focus: When is a directory not a directory?

By Dave Kearns

Directories, such as Novell's eDirectory, Microsoft's Active
Directory, Sun's Java System Directory, OpenLDAP, Computer
Associates' eTrust and many more are the bases for the
information that make identity management work - they're the
repositories of the data.

Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) was
supposed to be the directory for Web services. But UDDI hasn't
caught on as the Web services enabling tool for e-commerce that
IBM and Microsoft envisioned when they first proposed the idea.

Now, the folks who for the past five years or so had been
beating the drum for Web services have switched (at least in
name) to service-oriented architecture (SOA). And, of course,
SOA will need its own directory.

What it may get is actually in two parts: a registry and a
repository.

Electronic business extensible markup language (ebXML) is the
current favorite to replace the decades-old electronic data
interchange (EDI) standard for the semi-automatic exchange of
business transactions among partners, vendors, clients and
customers. The people who created ebXML (a technical committee
of OASIS, the organization for open standards) decided that UDDI
wasn't sufficient for their needs and so created another
technical committee to create the ebXML registry (
<http://www.networkworld.com/nldsv3133> ).

The SOA people, it seems, have decided that a registry simply
isn't enough, so they've added a repository in addition. What's
the difference between a registry and a repository? Ash Parikh
took a shot at differentiating them in a recent issue of our
sister publication, JavaWorld (
<http://www.networkworld.com/nldsv3134> ):

"An SOA repository is a persistence mechanism that stores
information published to an SOA registry. An SOA registry is a
resource that enterprises share to publish, discover, and
consume Web services, thus enabling dynamic and loosely-coupled
B2B collaboration. Content such as XML Schemas, Document Type
Definitions (DTD) and Web Services Description Language (WSDL)
documents can be persisted in an SOA repository, which is then
used in an SOA registry to enable a subscribe/publish model for
persisted services."

That's certainly clear, isn't it?

The SOA repository and registry, the ebXML registry, the UDDI
datastore - what they can all devolve to is a standard,
LDAP-enabled directory service. Novell even published a UDDI
front end for eDirectory at one point. But as UDDI didn't catch
on, neither did the Novell piece.

Still, those of you still involved with directories might want
to have a chat with the SOA geeks at your enterprise just to let
them know that you've got a real whiz-bang mechanism for storing
their registry and repository data.

The directory is the backbone of identity management, for sure,
but it's also the backbone for Web services and SOA just as it
has been the main enabling technology for the entire network.
It's old technology, it's not sexy, but it gets the job done.
Support your local directory!

RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS

Active Directory expands beyond Windows
Network World, 07/11/05
http://www.networkworld.com/nldsv3135
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Dave Kearns

Dave Kearns is a writer and consultant in Silicon Valley. He's
written a number of books including the (sadly) now out of print
"Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Networks." His musings can be
found at Virtual Quill <http://www.vquill.com/>.

Kearns is the author of three Network World Newsletters: Windows
Networking Tips, Novell NetWare Tips, and Identity Management.
Comments about these newsletters should be sent to him at these

respective addresses: <mailto:windows@vquill.com>,
<mailto:netware@vquill.com>, <mailto:identity@vquill.com>.

Kearns provides content services to network vendors: books,
manuals, white papers, lectures and seminars, marketing,
technical marketing and support documents. Virtual Quill
provides "words to sell by..." Find out more by e-mail at
<mailto:info@vquill.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Avocent
Network World Executive Guide:
Security Evolves. Automation, specialized 'ops centers' and
more.

For network security professionals, keeping a safe distance
ahead of the worst the bad guys have to offer is a never-ending
race. This guide is designed to help with a collection of news,
analysis and product test reviews for practical how-to advice on
subjects ranging from patch management and spyware to promises
and risks of automated security services.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=108276
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Archive of the Identity Management newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/dir/index.html
_______________________________________________________________
Extended value chains are here to stay - application
acceleration

Find out about the changing market for application acceleration
technologies, and learn what the playing field for 2007 and 2010
will look like.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=107865
_______________________________________________________________
FEATURED READER RESOURCE
TEN WAYS TO STOP SPYWARE

You will get spam down to a manageable level this year, but then
spyware will kick in. Spyware cleaners will help, but won't
eradicate all the unwanted activity at the office, at home.
Here's a ten step guide you can follow to curb the spyware
problem:
<http://www.networkworld.com/nldsv3136>
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