title: OpenLDAP Redivivus link: https://onemoretech.wordpress.com/2010/12/18/openldap-redivivus/ author: lembobro description: post_id: 101 created: 2010/12/18 02:15:32 created_gmt: 2010/12/18 02:15:32 comment_status: open post_name: openldap-redivivus status: publish post_type: post

OpenLDAP Redivivus

Recently I set up the shipping build of OpenLDAP in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 on my home directory server. At work I’ve recommenced prior experiments in migrating Sun and Oracle LDAP directory schemae and data over into OpenLDAP.

Although there has been lots of criticism of the RHEL build by purists on the OpenLDAP mailing lists, I’ve found it to be stable and a good performer. With the release of RHEL 6 there have been some significant changes in the shipping OpenLDAP build that should improve the performance, reliability and manageability of the software. Apparently I may not be the only one interested in such things. Read on after the jump.

Back when Oracle’s purchase of Sun was first announced, I opined that if they weren’t careful the database giant could wind up driving Sun’s directory server customers into the arms of Red Hat, or even worse, of OpenLDAP. I’ve since been encouraged by Oracle’s re-branding of the Sun product as Oracle Directory Server Enterprise Edition, and am guardedly optimistic about its future.

While I’ve heard of at least one proposed Red Hat or 389 (a/k/a Fedora) Directory deployment, it has come to my attention that Symas, whose commercial implementation of OpenLDAP replaced another enterprise directory product as the core of HP’s identity management environment a few years ago, is now offering a special Directory Services Upgrade Program.

Here’s the blurb:

Convert your Enterprise Directory from a proprietary and expensive closed-source supplier to OpenLDAP, a modern, more efficient, and less expensive Open Source software solution. Typically, enterprises dramatically reduce their annual cost converting to OpenLDAP from Sun, Oracle, Netscape, or iPlanet Directory Services products. The workload requires half or less the power and capacity for substantially improved performance. This is a relatively easy transition to make because LDAPv3 is highly standardized and OpenLDAP conforms to the most demanding requirements of the Internet Standards (RFC 4511 and related RFCs).

Having spent a lot of time working with both vendor (Red Hat, Ubuntu, SuSE) and built-from-source OpenLDAP, I’m well aware of the challenges that deploying it in an enterprise environment. It would be interesting to see just what Symas has to offer in their migration program.

Copyright 2004-2019 Phil Lembo