About Directory Entries - Netscape DIRECTORY SERVER 6.01 - DEPLOYMENT Deployment Manual

Introduction to Directory Server
By default, Directory Server uses a single database to contain the directory tree.
This database can manage millions of entries. The default database supports
advanced methods of backing up and restoring your data, so that your data is not
at risk.
You can choose to use multiple databases to support your Directory Server. You
can distribute your data across the databases, allowing the server to hold more
data than can be stored in a single database.
The following sections describe how a directory database stores data.

About Directory Entries

LDIF is a standard text-based format for describing directory entries. An entry is a
group of lines in the LDIF file that contains information about an object, such as a
person in your organization or a printer on your network. Information about the
entry is represented in the LDIF file by a set of attributes and their values. Each
entry has an object class attribute that specifies the kind of object the entry
describes and defines the set of additional attributes it contains. Each attribute
describes a particular trait of an entry.
For example, an entry might be of an object class
indicating that the entry represents a person within a particular organization. This
object class allows the
assigned to these attributes give the name and phone number of the person
represented by the entry.
Directory Server also uses read-only attributes that are calculated by the server.
These attributes are called operational attributes. There are also some operational
attributes that can be set by the administrator, for access control and other server
functions.
Entries are stored in a hierarchical structure in the directory tree. In LDAP, you can
query an entry and request all entries below it in the directory tree. This subtree is
called the base distinguished name, or base DN. For example, if you make an
LDAP search request specifying a base DN of
then the search operation examines only the
dc=example,dc=com
However, all entries are not automatically returned in response to an LDAP search.
This is because Directory Server 5.0 introduces a new kind of entry, entries of the
object class
object, for example entries used to define a role or a class of service are of the
ldapsubentry
normal search requests. To receive these entries, clients need to search specifically
for entries of the
20 Netscape Directory Server Deployment Guide • January 2002
givenname
directory tree.
. An
ldapsubentry ldapsubentry
type. Entries of type
object class.
ldapsubentry
organizationalPerson
and
telephoneNumber
ou=people, dc=example,dc=com
ou=people
entry represents an administrative
are not returned in response to
ldapsubentry
,
attributes. The values
subtree in the
,