Introduction
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, better known as LDAP, is a great way to store any kind of data you can think of. Address books, user accounts, system groups, network data, and much more can all be stored in an LDAP database. The reason for that versatility stems from the way that LDAP stores data. An LDAP database functions in the same way as any other directory service, such as telephone directories. It uses a tree structure to organize data and is optimized for reading that data. Consequently, it is designated as “high read, low write.” Due to it’s ease of use, LDAP has become the standard for storing data for networks of users big or small. However, just because it’s easy doesn’t mean you can jump right in without some planning.
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