Metadirectory Services Tackle Identity Management

Microsoft Metadirectory Services (MMS) version 2.2 provides customers with a tool to address their identity management problem—the problem of coordinating related information across multiple directories. Microsoft positions Active Directory (AD) as the primary directory for a company, but the reality is that no single directory can meet a large company’s entire directory needs. Therefore, Microsoft provides MMS to support coexistence between AD and the numerous other directories in a company.

What Are Directories and Metadirectories?

A directory is a collection of related objects (such as people, computers, and services) and their attributes (such as name and location), arranged so that the object and its related attributes can be quickly and easily located.

Typical directories include the following:

Network directory. Organizations need a directory of their users, groups, and resources (such as servers and printers) so that people can locate and access the resources they have permission to use on their network. Examples of network directories include AD, Novell’s Netware Directory Services (NDS), and the Sun-Netscape Alliance iPlanet Directory Server.