Determining The Location Of The User Directory - Netscape DIRECTORY SERVER 6.01 Installation Manual

configuration directory so as to not hurt the performance of your other production
servers. Netscape server installations result in write activities to the configuration
directory. For large enough sites, this write activity could result in a short-term
performance hit to your other directory activities.
Also, as with any directory installation, consider replicating the configuration
directory to increase availability and reliability. See the Netscape Directory Server
Deployment Guide for information on using replication and DNS round robins to
increase directory availability.
Corrupting the configuration directory tree can result in the necessity of
CAUTION
reinstalling all other Netscape servers that are registered in that
configuration directory. Remember the following guidelines when dealing
with the configuration directory:
• Always back up your configuration directory after you install a new
Netscape server.
• Never change the host name or port number used by the configuration
directory.
• Never directly modify the configuration directory tree. Only the setup
program for the various Netscape servers should ever modify the
configuration.

Determining the Location of the User Directory

Just as the configuration directory is the Directory Server that is used for Netscape
server administration, the user directory is the Directory Server that contains the
entries for users and groups in your enterprise.
For most directory installations, the user directory and the configuration directory
should be two separate server instances. These server instances can be installed on
the same machine, but for best results you should consider placing the
configuration directory on a separate machine.
Between your user directory and your configuration directory, it is your user
directory that will receive the overwhelming percentage of the directory traffic. For
this reason, you should give the user directory the greatest computing resources.
Because the configuration directory should receive very little traffic, it can be
installed on a machine with very low-end resources (such as a minimally-equipped
Pentium).
Chapter 1 Preparing for a Directory Server Installation
Configuration Decisions
17