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A directory service is like a control panel for all users, applications, and devices across your organization network. It’s a centralized repository for identity and access management (IAM) in on-premises, remote, or hybrid environments.
When a directory service is delivered through the cloud, generally through cloud directory services, it lets organizations effectively manage individual identities and their lifecycle from one place.
You have better control over user access privileges regardless of whether they are globally distributed. It makes it simple to implement identity management policies crucial to an organization’s data privacy and security.
Let’s look at directory services in detail and learn more about their different components.
Directory services are centralized databases that store information about an organization's users, devices, and applications. They offer a framework for authenticating users and managing resources effectively.
With centralized information, administrators have a single point of reference to authenticate and authorize users. This reduces a lot of manual work in large networks, making it easier to enforce policies.
Since the admin has better visibility over controls and permissions, the risk of unauthorized access decreases, adding to the network's security. Moreover, directory services facilitate single sign-on (SSO). This allows users to access different applications through a single set of credentials. Since users aren’t nudged to authenticate repetitively, the user experience improves, reducing the cognitive load on users.
Let’s take an example to understand it better. Suppose a user is accessing an application. The application will refer to a directory service to verify the user is legitimate and has appropriate access privileges. If yes, it will give the user access and allow them to use the application.
Large enterprises need scalability. They implement a directory service in software and distribute it across multiple servers. It increases performance and scalability.
Here are some of the standard components you’ll find in an enterprise directory service:
When these components work together, the directory service supports identity and access management (IAM) across the enterprise network, both in on-premises and cloud environments. It unifies the user management approach, applying group policies and permissions to different directory objects based on their privileges.
A popular example of a directory service is a DNS server's domain name system (DNS). A DNS server stores the mappings of computer hostnames and other domain names to IP addresses.
Microsoft’s Active Directory (AD) is primarily for Windows environments. It authenticates users, facilitates policy management, and allocates resources. Its hierarchical format structures the directory, making managing several devices and users relatively easier.
An Active Directory is made up of several services, including:
Active Directory is good for use cases where you need to manage on-premises Microsoft-based technology like SharePoint or Exchange. It’s also helpful in implementing group policies across Windows computers.
Due to its design, it is not the best choice for large-scale implementations with a single-user community.
How would you manage users' accounts in a company? Would you go to each employee’s desk to configure and set up their accounts? Let’s say, in a strange situation, you do it. But when the employees are distributed in global offices, wouldn’t this be a redundant inefficiency?
If you have a centralized management, from where you can provide instructions to different parts of the IT infrastructure, it will make your job easier. Directory services offer this centralized management. They provide centralized authentication, authorization, and accounting, also known as AAA.
When you configure computers and applications with directory service, decisions about granting or denying access to them are centralized. It allows you to govern access rights based on a user’s role in an organization.
Suppose you’re a system administrator and have permission to create user accounts and reset passwords. If you add another system administrator, you don’t want to individually find everything they need access to and set permissions. It would take forever.
Instead, you can create a group called “sysadmins.” Add them to the group, and you can simply give them access to all the needed resources. If they change roles, you only need to change their groups. This is role-based access control (RBAC), and the centralization achieved through directory services helps you implement it.
A directory server stores user and machine information in a centralized location, enabling easy access. In an enterprise, the server has replication capability. It allows for the copying and distributing of directory data across multiple servers while providing a unified way to access data.
This redundancy is helpful. If a server fails, the redundancy keeps operations running. Moreover, this replication reduces latency while accessing the directory service. With different replicas of directory service available in each office, you answer queries faster.
Directory services make information searchable in an organization. They use a hierarchical model of objects and containers. The containers are organizational units (OUs) that contain objects or more OUs. This is similar to a file system. Each OU contains individual files or objects for a directory service, or it can be another folder.
The hierarchy conveys additional information about what's stored within. Take a directory structure as an example.
Source: Quizlet
You may have an OU code user, which contains all user accounts. Within this OU, additional OUs could represent your organization's actual team structure. The user's OU could contain additional OUs like sales, engineering, and marketing, including the user account objects for the individuals in these current teams.
This structure can convey differences between these sub-OU sub-users. For example, you can set stricter password requirements for engineering members without affecting sales or marketing.
Submembers inherit the characteristics of their parent OU. So, any changes made to the higher-level user's OU would affect all sub-OUs, including sales, marketing, and engineering.
Lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) is a popular protocol that facilitates authentication in directory services.
LDAP consumes fewer resources and allows efficient querying and modifying entries in a directory structure. It delivers interoperability and works seamlessly with different platforms.
The protocol’s versatility lets organizations manage user credentials or control access to applications and services. However, authentication is its primary use. Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, and Linux Samba servers validate usernames and passwords using LDAP.
LDAP is a preferred choice in the following use cases:
Source: Okta
In an LDAP query, a user connects to the server using an LDAP port and submits a query, such as an email lookup, to the server. LDAP queries the directory and delivers the information to the user as soon as it finds it. Then, the user disconnects from the LDAP port.
LDAP servers are good for large-scale applications or where large-scale user authentications take place.
Active Directory and OpenLDAP are two popular directory services that use LDAP.
IT support specialists or system administrators typically perform this task.
They will set up, configure, and maintain the directory service, including managing the operating system (OS) on which it runs. This involves standard OS management tasks, such as installing updates and configuring standard services. A system administrator is also responsible for installation and configuration, especially if multiple servers are involved.
The business administrator is responsible for designing and implementing the overall hierarchy.
A directory service adopts a client-server model. The server hosts the directory service, and the client performs search, add, or modify operations while interacting with it.
A centralized database stores information about network resources like users, groups, and services in a hierarchical structure. Protocols like LDAP authentication clients govern how directory information is updated while managing entries.
When a user tries to access a network resource like an application or file server, the request goes to the directory service to verify the identity before giving access. The service cross-checks login credentials and verifies them against its records. After authentication, the directory service determines what assets the user can access based on their privileges and authorization.
A directory service's user information and attributes are synced with all applications and other services through the System for Cross-Domain Identity Management (SCIM).
It allows effective user management and access control while facilitating functionality like SSO. In hybrid environments, on-premises directory services sync with cloud-based directories, ensuring consistent platform access.
Implementing a directory service requires careful planning. Organizations must assess their needs, existing infrastructure, and how directory services will fit into their overall strategy.
Conduct a thorough needs assessment first. Understanding the scale of user management required and the types of resources to be managed. While assessing these, security and compliance needs must be considered, too. Then, you can compare different types of directory services that are popular on the market.
Your organizational requirement will largely govern the choice of the type of directory service.
As a general guideline, you should consider the following factors:
Involve stakeholders early in the planning phase to clarify the process. If possible, seek end-user collaboration, too. When implementing a directory service, follow the process below. Here’s an overview since the actual process varies from organization to organization.
Once the service is successfully rolled out, start monitoring it with consistent maintenance. Remember to ask users for feedback on any areas for improvement.
When you consistently monitor the service, you can proactively update user information, analyze access logs, and constantly back up information. If feasible, set up a regular audit process to ensure only authorized users can access sensitive information. This level of monitoring will help you become proactive in updating software with its security patches.
Traditional identity management software and cloud directory services share some functionality. The managed service delivery model and scalability of cloud directory services differentiate them.
When comparing directory services, use these questions to make a better choice:
The answers to these questions will help you make a winning decision.
If you want to explore more, check these free cloud directory service tools.
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