Directory technology is so fundamentally imperative that whoever ends up setting the lead and establishing market share will have a great deal of power. A directory service is strategically vital because it will hold the information that will serve as the foundation for the next generation of Internet-based applications and services. It should come as no surprise then that directory services have become the latest flashpoint for rivals trying to shape the development of the Internet. Netscape's goal is to use Directory Server to attract enterprise customers to its server software and other products. The pact immediately made Active Directory the odds-on favorite to seize early leadership in networking directories.
Directory services are the cornerstone of the company's turnaround strategy.
If it stumbles, it may find itself pushed into the arms of a saving ally, such as Sun itself, where Novell Chief Executive Eric Schmidt used to work. In simple terms, a directory service is the interface between the applications and equipment that reside on a network and the humans who use the network. Instead of a simple list of names and Internet Protocol, or IP, addresses, however, a directory can be a repository for a variety of policies and services. For example, a piece of software in a directory could ensure that data from a specified group of users or a department receives priority handling during one part of a day. A directory service also is essential to the implementation of distributed applications, such as those created with the Java programming language, that reside on multiple servers that can be scattered throughout an enterprise or even the Internet, Lewis said.