Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    Virtual Directories Corral IDs

    By
    Cameron Sturdevant
    -
    June 6, 2005
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      The next big thing in identity management is virtual directories. And we do mean big: big potential for big returns, with big questions still remaining.

      Virtual directories can significantly change the way identity information is used in midsize and large organizations and can reduce the technical and cost barriers of identity management. However, IT managers must commit to centralizing application access to authoritative data sources—no small task in todays global work force.

      Virtual directories are software tools that connect to identity data in a variety of authoritative sources, including LDAP directories and databases. Virtual directories broker requests from applications that need access to this identity information. Metadirectories, in contrast, create copies of directory data, resulting in a usually costly infrastructure of replication and synchronization procedures to ensure that data is current. Virtual directories ultimately rely on the original data source for identity information.

      /zimages/3/28571.gifClick here to read eWEEK Labs review of two virtual directory systems.

      Virtual directories also have the potential to lower licensing costs over products like metadirectories that are based primarily on synchronizing data from many sources into a central authority. However, additional features, such as data reconciliation and identity mapping among information sources, can easily drive up virtual directory costs.

      Virtual directory tools act as a go-between for data repositories and applications. To the application, the virtual directory appears to be a customized directory that supplies precisely the identity information the application requires. To data repositories, the virtual directory appears as an application that asks only for information that the repository can supply.

      At the end of the day, virtual directories make it possible for IT staff to implement new enterprise applications—such as human resources, CRM (customer relationship management) and e-mail—without creating a whole new user credential store to control access.

      Virtual directories ability to monitor and record user access also could help businesses comply with the audit requirements embodied in regulations including HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

      In fact, IT managers who decide to evaluate virtual directory technology are well advised to look at the regulatory compliance aspects of these products as a way to get executive sign-off. After the products are in place, IT staff likely will be able to drive significant identity management costs out of application implementations. For these cost savings to become reality, however, IT managers must convince other divisions in the organization that centralized identity management can work.

      Next page: Directory politics.

      Page Two

      Directory information—name, address, employee number, salary, reporting structure, cube location, phone number and the like—is by its nature highly sensitive.

      eWEEK Labs has found that in most organizations with which it has worked, control over identity information is highly political. Business managers are often reluctant to change access control systems that work, regardless of any possible cost savings that may accrue if exclusive control were to be relinquished.

      This means that implementation of virtual directory projects will need to be phased in over a period of months, or even years—not for technical reasons but for organizational concerns. With this time frame in mind, IT managers should focus immediately on the nuts and bolts of virtual directories to ensure that such projects succeed.

      We say “projects” because virtual directory products are really a platform into which applications and data sources are hooked. As projects are defined, what comes into focus is the great variety of attributes that create a unique identity. It also becomes clear that this information is stored in a great many places and that bringing this information together will not be easy.

      Virtual directories use LDAP calls and SQL statements, along with a blend of scripting tools, to transform identity data and present that data correctly to applications and services.

      For example, a CRM package used by an international company may expect user names in the United States to appear in the form “first name/last name” and in Europe to appear “last name/first name.” Rules created by IT in the virtual directory make this data presentation happen correctly in both instances. Further, IT staff need to write these types of rules only in the virtual directory product, as opposed to in every API. By reducing the number of places IT staff need to make custom connections, virtual directory tools can significantly reduce application implementation costs.

      Aside from these efficiency gains, virtual directories—with their ability, through either a cache or proxied connection, to provide rapid access to the most current identity data—will likely improve directory access reliability, scalability and security.

      Virtual directory tools can augment only the capabilities of the data sources to which they connect, however. And these data sources must be in a redundant configuration to provide failover and load balancing capabilities.

      eWEEK Labs tests have shown that if redundant systems are in place—in carefully architected data environments—virtual directory tools can make directories scale further by efficiently routing requests for identity data. For example, an application that asks for all user names starting with “s” could be routed at a low priority to protect directory bandwidth.

      Similarly, virtual directories can act as a directory firewall by placing required data in a virtual space without providing direct access to all the data sources. A virtual directory implementation at Sandia National Laboratories shows that this configuration could more securely provide authorized identity data to trusted partner facilities while ensuring the protection of the directories and databases that store the data.

      Labs Technical Director Cameron Sturdevant can be reached at [email protected].

      Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest security news, reviews and analysis. And for insights on security coverage around the Web, take a look at eWEEK.com Security Center Editor Larry Seltzers Weblog.

      Cameron Sturdevant
      Cameron Sturdevant is the executive editor of Enterprise Networking Planet. Prior to ENP, Cameron was technical analyst at PCWeek Labs, starting in 1997. Cameron finished up as the eWEEK Labs Technical Director in 2012. Before his extensive labs tenure Cameron paid his IT dues working in technical support and sales engineering at a software publishing firm . Cameron also spent two years with a database development firm, integrating applications with mainframe legacy programs. Cameron's areas of expertise include virtual and physical IT infrastructure, cloud computing, enterprise networking and mobility. In addition to reviews, Cameron has covered monolithic enterprise management systems throughout their lifecycles, providing the eWEEK reader with all-important history and context. Cameron takes special care in cultivating his IT manager contacts, to ensure that his analysis is grounded in real-world concern. Follow Cameron on Twitter at csturdevant, or reach him by email at [email protected]

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×