Open Directory is the directory service and network authentication services architecture at the core of Mac OS X Server from Apple Computer. It is based on OpenLDAP and is optionally secured by Kerberos. As with other directory service environments, it stores and organizes information about a computer network's users and network shares, and that allows network administrators to manage users' access to the shares. Image File history File links Directory_Access. ... A directory service is a software application — or a set of applications — that stores and organizes information about a computer networks users and network resources, and that allows network administrators to manage users access to the resources. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Authentication (Greek: αυθεντικός = real or genuine, from authentes = author ) is the act of establishing or confirming something (or someone) as authentic, that is, that claims made by or about the thing are true. ... Mac OS X Server is the server-oriented version of Apple Computers modern operating system, Mac OS X. It is based on the BSD-Unix-based operating system that Apple Computer acquired from NeXT Computer and which formed the basis of the current Mac OS X. The regular version... Apple Inc. ... OpenLDAP is a free, open source implementation of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). ... Kerberos is a computer network authentication protocol which allows individuals communicating over an insecure network to prove their identity to one another in a secure manner. ... A network share is a location on a computer network, typically allowing multiple computer users on the same network to have a centralized space on which to store files (i. ... The terms network administrator, network specialist and network analyst designate job positions of engineers involved in computer networks, the people who carry out network administration. ...

Open Directory communicates with Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, and Unix computers, as well as with external LDAP servers. It can interoperate with proprietary environments such as Microsoft’s Active Directory and Novell eDirectory. The first Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, upgraded to a 512K Fat Mac. The Macintosh or Mac, is a line of personal computers designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Apple Computer. ... Microsoft Windows is the name of several families of proprietary software operating systems by Microsoft. ... Filiation of Unix and Unix-like systems Unix (officially trademarked as UNIX®) is a computer operating system originally developed in the 1960s and 1970s by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie and Douglas McIlroy. ... In computer networking, the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, or LDAP (IPA: ), is a networking protocol for querying and modifying directory services running over TCP/IP. A directory is a set of information with similar attributes organized in a logical and hierarchical manner. ... Typically Active Directory is managed using the graphical Microsoft Management Console. ... Novell eDirectory (formerly called Novell Directory Services [NDS]) is an X.500 compatible directory service software product released in 1993 by Novell, Inc. ...

External links

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of

Mac OS X Tiger Server/Open Directory

• Apple's Open Directory Page
• Open Directory Manual (PDF)

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