About Suffixes - Red Hat DIRECTORY SERVER 8.1 - DEPLOYMENT Deployment Manual

About Suffixes

Figure 5.2. Dividing Suffix Databases Between Separate Servers
Server A contains DB1 and DB2, and Server B contains DB3.
Distributing databases across multiple servers reduces the workload on each server. The directory
service can therefore be scaled to a much larger number of entries than would be possible with a
single server.
In addition, Directory Server supports adding databases dynamically, which means that new
databases can be added when the directory service needs them without taking the entire directory
service off-line.
5.2.2. About Suffixes
Each database contains the data within a specific suffix of the Directory Server. Both root and
subsuffixes can be created to organize the contents of the directory tree. A root suffix is the entry
at the top of a tree. It can be the root of the directory tree or part of a larger tree designed for the
Directory Server. A subsuffix is a branch beneath a root suffix. The data for root and subsuffixes are
contained by databases.
For example, Example Corp. creates suffixes to represent the distribution of their directory data.
Figure 5.3. Directory Tree for Example Corp.
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