Envisioning a better directory store

Let's keep looking at the Directory Information Base and the storage possibilities, as we have frequently over the past few weeks. While we've seen the debate about object-oriented vs. relational database storage, and even mentioned a hybrid object-oriented relational database in the last issue, there is another possibility.

The object-oriented hierarchical storage systems that are traditionally used for directory services undoubtedly perform better for the "write once, read many" data items typically stored in a directory. On the other hand, a relational DBMS offers transactional processing, two-phase commit and other features that ensure the integrity of the data.

What if we could combine the two? Suppose that data was written to a relational DBMS, with all of the robustness, security and integrity that implies, but was read from an object-oriented, hierarchical main-memory style directory information base, with all of its performance and ease-of-use benefits? How's that for the best of both worlds?

It's not my idea, but I picked it up in a conversation with Radiant Logic's Michel Prompt. Prompt's idea is to take the existing Radiant One Virtual Directory Server and link it to an enterprise-class relational DBMS. This is similar to the solution we talked about from Ipedo a few weeks ago ("Directory Caching for Speed," www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/dir/2001/00655046.html), but the Ipedo solution backs up the main memory directory with a standard Lightweight Directory Access Protocol-enabled directory as the physical store. And, in fact, Radiant One Version 1 was structured in much the same way.

But Prompt realized that writing to the directory and reading from the directory were very separate functions, performed by very different people and applications. This meant that there was really no need to keep the virtual directory server and the physical directory server using the same database design.

What was important was structuring communications between the virtual and physical structures on the one hand, and the virtual server and the applications reading it on the other - and between the physical server and the source of the data it holds, or points to, on the third hand. When you think outside the box, you can visualize using three hands.

We'll come back to this new design in the future, but for now I'd like you to think about it and visualize the possibilities.

Dave Kearns is a writer and consultant in Silicon Valley. His most recent book is "Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Networks" published by SAMS. Dave's company, Virtual Quill, 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 at Virtual Quill or by e-mail at info@vquill.com

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