Red Hat DIRECTORY SERVER 8.1 - DEPLOYMENT Deployment Manual page 46

Chapter 4. Designing the Directory Tree
to branch the directory tree are stable; do not perform this kind of branching if the enterprise
reorganizes frequently.
• Use functional or generic names rather than actual organizational names for the branch points.
Names change, and it is really bad to have to change the directory tree every time the enterprise
renames its divisions. Instead, use generic names that represent the function of the organization (for
example, use Engineering instead of Widget Research and Development).
• If there are multiple organizations that perform similar functions, try creating a single branch point for
that function instead of branching based along divisional lines.
For example, even if there are multiple marketing organizations, each of which is responsible for a
specific product line, create a single ou=Marketing subtree. All marketing entries then belong to
that tree.
Branching in an Enterprise Environment
Name changes can be avoided if the directory tree structure is based on information that is not likely to
change. For example, base the structure on types of objects in the tree rather than organizations. This
helps avoid shuffling an entry between organizational units, which requires modifying the distinguished
name (DN), which is an expensive operation.
There are a handful of common objects that are good to use to define the structure:
• ou=people
• ou=groups
• ou=services
A directory tree organized using these objects might appear as shown below.
Figure 4.2. Example Environment Directory Tree
Branching in a Hosting Environment
For a hosting environment, create a tree that contains two entries of the object class organization
(o) and one entry of the object class organizationalUnit (ou) beneath the root suffix. For
example, Example ISP branches their directory as shown below.
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