The directory-enabled network uses directory services to store critical information to facilitate access, management, and search operations. Users, applications, and services can be abstracted through profiles. A profile is a template of attributes and behaviors that describe an object or a set of objects. Profiles can be applied to a single user or a group of users. Put another way, profiles tell the system what needs to be done, not the specific steps necessary to do it.
Policies define desired behavior between two or more objects.
It is important to note that policy is separate from enforcement or auditing. In a network, policies apply to a broad range of different services, such as configuration, routing and switching, access control, and usage of services such as encryption and QoS. Centralized policies are the key to overall management of the network. This is due to the inherent complexity of managing many inter-dependent features across many different types of network elements. The directory also represents objects that consume these network resources, such as users and applications. This allows directory-enabled network elements and applications to discover and enforce policy at the point where resources are consumed.