XRIs resolve identity management dilemma

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
09/12/05

Dear security.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* The Extensible Resource Identifier specification tackles
identity management interoperability problems
* Links related to Networking Technology Update
* Featured reader resource
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This newsletter is sponsored by ProCurve Networking by HP
Network World Executive Guide: The Evolution of Management
Technologies

With applications and infrastructures growing more sophisticated
and demanding, network and systems management technologies are
more critical than ever. Elevating their focus from bits and
bytes, these networked systems are being called on to close the
gap between IT and business services. Read about the future of
management, including BSM and emerging automation tools. Learn
about 'hot spots' and 'best products' in network management.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=114137
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THE LATEST HOME NETWORK EQUIPMENT PREDICTIONS

How many devices will be connected to home networks by the year
2010? Does 1 billion devices sound right? Is the prediction
based on more home networks coming online or more devices per
home network? And what is the prediction for wireless adoption
in home networks? For the latest, click here:
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Today's focus:

XRIs resolve identity management dilemma

By Dave Mcalpin

Identity management is a big productivity win for companies, but
implementation can be challenging. A company's partner, for
instance, might identify each of its employees by personnel
number, a distinguished name or an e-mail address. Merely
recognizing the type of identifier provided can be difficult or
impossible, and supporting them all is costly.

The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information
Standards (OASIS) has developed a unified identifier scheme to
help companies tackle today's rampant identity management
interoperability problems. The Extensible Resource Identifier
(XRI ) specification establishes an interoperable framework for
expressing, resolving and establishing equivalence between
identifiers of any kind for any resource type, including people,
applications, network devices and corporate assets.

XRIs build on the ubiquitous Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)
and Internationalized Resource Identifier (IRI) standards -
widely used by identity management solutions - by defining
standard ways to express characteristics such as type, language
and date. The lightweight HTTP- and XML-based XRI resolution
framework lets a consuming application quickly and easily
discover metadata about those resources, such as an alternative
synonym identifier that works better in the application's local
identity management system.

Metadata isn't limited to alternative identifiers. Imagine that
an XRI-identified resource is a technical manual, available as a
PDF or Word document and retrievable from a variety of mirrored
network locations via various protocols. In a broad sense, the
manual is the same document irrespective of where it is located,
how it is retrieved or in what format it is represented. XRIs
are ideally suited for identifying resources at this level of
abstraction because the resolution process lets the consuming
application choose the best network location, retrieval method
and file format for its needs from the available options.

Like URIs, XRIs are composed of an authority portion and a path
portion. XRI resolution converts the authority portion and the
path portion of an XRI to an XML document called an
XRIDescriptor. The XRIDescriptor describes the identified
resource and the means by which the digital representation of
the resource can be retrieved. By providing an additional level
of in direction away from concrete instances of a resource, XRIs
provide a permanent, unbreakable reference on which stable
business relationships can be based.

For the complete story, go to:
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate6827>

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Google hacking <http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate6828>

2. Supermarket chain freezes Internet access
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate6572>

3. Cisco warns of another IOS bug
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate6829>

4. Firefox upgrade offers improved usability, security
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate6830>

5. 2005 salary survey
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate3918>

_______________________________________________________________
To contact:

McAlpin, a senior architect at Epok, is one of the primary
authors of the XRI specification at OASIS and the president of
OpenXRI.org. He can be reached at dave.mcalpin@epok.net.

_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by ProCurve Networking by HP
Network World Executive Guide: The Evolution of Management
Technologies

With applications and infrastructures growing more sophisticated
and demanding, network and systems management technologies are
more critical than ever. Elevating their focus from bits and
bytes, these networked systems are being called on to close the
gap between IT and business services. Read about the future of
management, including BSM and emerging automation tools. Learn
about 'hot spots' and 'best products' in network management.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=114136
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Technology Update archive:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/tech/index.html
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE
GARTNER'S SECURITY HYPE-O-METER

What is hype and has it influenced your network security
efforts? At a recent Gartner security summit, analysts described
what they say are "The Five Most Overhyped Security Threats,"
risks that have been overblown and shouldn't be scaring everyone
as much as they seem to be. For more, click here:
<http://www.networkworld.com/weblogs/security/009180.html>
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