Defining Information Using LDAP
A directory database consists of data entries that contain descriptive information. These entries might describe people or network resources (such as printers or fax machines). The LDAP defines the types of data and units of information that can be stored in a directory. The directory is organized based on entries and attributes. An entry, the base unit of the LDAP, is a collection of attributes which contain information that describes it. Each attribute is comprised of a type and one or more values that describe a particular trait of the object’s entry. The type describes what the information is; the value is the information itself. For example, attributes describing a person’s entry might include one for the person’s name (usually, common name, or cn), a telephone number, and an email address.
