Interactive scorecard and NetResults: LDAP servers

Network World Fusion, 05/15/00

Every network is unique. This calculator lets you change the weights given to scores from our review to see which product might be best suited for your needs. Here's how it works: In each category, our reviewers rated the apps on a 1-10 basis. These ratings are then multiplied by the percentage weighting, and then added up to give an overall product score. Any score above 9 is considered "world class."

For each category below, assign the percentage weight you think is most appropriate. The percent-o-meter box on the right will keep track of your weightings to let you know when you've reached 100%. When you fill in the last box, hit your enter key, and you'll see how the apps rate (along with our final scores for comparison).

Percent-
o-meter

Category	Our weight	Your weight
Performance	50%	%
Management	25%	%
Back-end features	10%	%
Tool kit	10%	%
Documentation	5%	%

Results table

Below, you'll find the 1-10 score given to each app by our reviewers. To obtain the final score: Multiply each individual score by the weighting given that category, then add up all those resulting numbers.

Dir-
ectory Server IDDS and Dir-
ectory Portal 4.5 Global Dir-
ectory Server 3.0 NDS eDir-
ectory DirX 5.0 eTrust Dir-
ectory Oracle Inter-
net Dir-
ectory

Perf. 10 9 7 6 3 4 N/A

Mgmt. 8 6 5 3 6 4 5

Back-end features 4 4 6 5 6 7 5

Tool kit 7 9 6 6 8 6 6

Doc. 9 7 7 5 6 5 5

Our total 8.55 7.65 6.30 5.10 4.70 4.55 N/A

YOUR TOTAL

NetResults

COMPANY RATING COST PROS CONS

Directory Server iPlanet 8.55 $1 million for 100,000 users. Excellent all-around LDAP-only operation, outstanding document-
ation. Minimal back-end features.

Global Directory Server 3.0 Critical Path (Isocor) 6.30 $85,000 to $100,000 for 100,000 users. Good X.500 back-end feature set. Sloppy LDAP-to-X.500 inte-
gration, no LDIF bulk-loading tool, complex.

NDS eDirect-
ory Novell 5.10 $200,000 for 100,000 users. Multi-
platform operating system integration. Manage-
ment tools fragmented and server crashed during load.

eTrust Directory Computer Assoc. 4.55 $20,000 for 100,000 users. Strong X.500 back-end feature set, multi-
platform replication tools and built-in load sharing. Difficult-to-use manage-
ment interface, complex, no bulk-loading tool.

IDDS and Directory Portal 4.5 Innosoft 7.65 $35,000 for 100,000 users. Broad multi-platform support, easy installation, chaining via LDAP supported. Configur-
ation done mainly via configur-
ation files.

DirX 5.0 Siemens 4.70 $100,000 for 100,000 users. Broad set of manage-
ment tools and features, good inte-
gration of X.500 and LDAP, powerful manage-
ment in a single tool. No LDIF bulk-loading tool, problems in operation of LDAP at high load, complex.

Oracle Internet Directory Oracle N/A Starts at $25,000 for 5,000 replicated entries. Very good schema editor, builds on Oracle's reli-
ability and security model. No ability to directly talk to database.