Sun OpenDS FAQs

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h4. What is Sun OpenDS SE?
Sun OpenDS SE is based on the OpenDS open source community project building a comprehensive next generation directory service. Sun OpenDS SE is designed to address large deployments, to provide high performance, to be highly extensible, and to be easy to deploy, manage and monitor.

The Directory Server is a network-accessible database that is able to store information in a hierarchical form. Clients may communicate with it using standard network protocols (at present LDAPv3) to retrieve and update information in a variety of ways.

Initial development of OpenDS was done by Sun Microsystems, but it is now available under the open source Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL) and Sun Commercial Licenses (as of this release).

h4. Is Sun OpenDS SE a Sun Microsystems product?
Yes. Sun OpenDS SE is based on an open source community project that is constructing next generation directory service software. The initial effort is led by Sun and the primary contributions are by Sun employees, but the goal is to attract developers and other interested parties from around the world. Sun OpenDS SE is the commercial offering based on this project.


h4. Why release the OpenDS Directory Service as open source?
Sun believes very strongly in the value of open source, and is one of the top contributors to open source software. Sun has committed to providing open source for most of its Java Enterprise Systems components including its market leading Directory Service product.

Open source provides a number of benefits to the community:

* Allows developers to cooperate freely with a minimum of legal restrictions.

* Helps drive interest in the directory service solution and make it more appealing to organizations that prefer open source solutions.

* Allows the community to more easily communicate what features they would like to see in OpenDS, and even gives them a chance to contribute at levels from developing core code, plugins, scripts, and even documentation.

* Gives the community access to the source code so that it can more easily debug problems or answer questions that it might encounter. This increases code quality and security while reducing deployment costs.

* Enables interested parties to more easily create customized versions of the solution that are optimized for a particular use.


h4. What are the primary goals of the Sun OpenDS SE software?

* Horizontal Scalability. It needs be possible to use synchronization to achieve higher levels of read scalability by adding servers to the directory service. In addition, it needs to be possible to use data distribution in conjunction with synchronization to achieve horizontal read and write scalability to achieve deployments into the billions.

* Supportability. The server should be easy to support and maintain. Administration should be intuitive, and wherever possible the server should provide sufficient information and notifications to enable corrective actions, even predictively.

* Security. The server must provide extensive security in areas like access control, encryption, authentication, auditing, and password and account management.

* Extensibility. Virtually every aspect of the server should be customizable. It needs a safe and simple plugin API that delivers additional points of extensibility, including, but not limited to, password validation algorithms, password generators, monitor information providers, logging subsystems, backend repositories, protocol handlers, administrative tasks, SASL mechanisms, extended operations, attribute syntaxes, and matching rules.

* Synchronization. The server must support data synchronization between instances, including not only total data synchronization but also partial synchronization (with fractional, filtered, and subtree capabilities), and must also provide a means of synchronizing with other applications and data repositories.

* Availability. The server must be robust enough to continue running properly even if serious errors are encountered.

* Portability. The server needs to be written entirely in Java so that it can run on any platform.

* Reliability. A directory service is one of the most critical components of a business infrastructure. It is absolutely essential that the service function despite hostile or unexpected events and that the data it delivers be trusted.

* Compatibility. The Sun Java System Directory Server will continue to be maintained over time and will not be immediately replaced by Sun products based on OpenDS. However, Sun OpenDS SE must provide support for virtually all existing features of the Sun Java System Directory Server. Migration from other directory server implementations should also be taken into consideration when applicable.

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