LDAP Directories Explained: An Introduction and Analysis

Suppose you were an administrator who is asked to run an LDAP-Server, but the only thing you know about LDAP is, that it is a fashionable IT-buzzword. Then this book is for you! If your task is to create a directory infrastructure for a whole company or organization, "LDAP Directories Explained" could be a perfect first read, but after it you will want to turn to a more comprehensive book. This book also does not claim to contain installation guides for any specific LDAP server implementation (though it has some links on this topic in one of its appendixes). "LDAP Directories Explained" is well organized, specialized terms are being defined before they are used, there are no obvious typos and no useless digressions. Brian Arkills does a perfect job to make you understand the basic concepts of LDAP. He also makes you feel, that the LDIF-syntax which looks so deterring and obscure at the first look is in fact quite simple and he teaches you how to query an LDAP server. This is exactly the knowledge that is sufficent for 90% of the IT staff concerned with LDAP. Brain Arkill conveys it on only 200 pages. In the second half of the book he assesses three major LDAP-implementations: OpenLDAP, Microsoft Active Directory and Netscape Directory Server. We use neither of these, but the book was invaluable to me though. I remember from my last job that the basic concepts of LDAP never were adequately explained in the Microsoft curricula, so I can also heartily recommend this book to Windows sysadmins.

This is the book for people like me who had heard about directories, but couldn't get past the ( & (cn=foo*)(ou=*Bar*)) notation to figure out what was going on. The book does an excellent job explaining how LDAP directories can and should work within an enterprise. Brian Arkills has written a wonderful book.Anyone who wants to learn some of the 'Why?' about MS Active Directory would do well to start here. The first half of the book lays out the basics of directories, with numerous references to standards documents (RFC's). The rest iterates through popular LDAP directory implementations, what they have to offer, how they are 'special' and why you might want to use them.

I will admit upfront that I know the author so some of my views may be a bit biased, but I feel I can objectively highly recommend this book for IT folks who may be new to LDAP or just want to know more about it. Over the past few years many IT admins have been thrust into LDAP because of its use in Windows 2000 Active Directory or as part of an enterprise directory project. Personally I fall into both categories. I like the two-part format with both an explaination of the standards and technology, and then examples of how it was implemented by different vendors. This makes the book widely applicable. I feel the text is quite readable and the examples are clear. It does a good job addressing the how and why questions about LDAP. I highly recommend the book for those getting started with LDAP or wanting to better understand the concepts of something they're already using. For those who are Active Directory admins, I also recommend 'Inside Active Directory' by Kouti from the same publisher. The combination of the two books will give you a strong understanding of how Active Directory works from a directory services perspective. You'll find yourself thinking 'So that is why it works like that.'

In his book, "LDAP Directories Explained: An Introduction and Analysis", Brian Arkills used subtle analysis to unveil the underlying principles of Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. This book employed a very practical approach; and included the most recent advances in LDAP technology.Both newcomers and intermediates would cherish how it explained the basics of the TCP/IP stacks; particularly, how it can be used to extract information from a hierarchial directory such as the X.500. It also gave useful suggestions on how LDAP learners could comb through data when surmising or searching for a particular piece of information, (e.g. a security certificate, an e-mail address, or similar information).In conclusion, this is an essential guide, which should provide any LDAP beginner (or enthusiast) with all the information he (or she) may need concerning this network protocol. It is worth taking a look at!