Directory Services

Today's enterprise computing environments support an extensive array of users and resources. Frequently, users require access to computing resources from multiple operating environments across the distributed enterprise. This makes the administration and tracking of user profiles and resource attributes difficult, if not completely unmanageable. It also makes it difficult for applications to access data about resources that are located on other systems.

Enterprise directory services solves these problems by providing a common repository for user, resource, and security data that can be administered in one place using one interface. SAS Integration Technologies software provides application interfaces that enable you to develop SAS programs using either the DATA step or SAS Component Language (SCL) that utilize directory services. These interfaces enable SAS distributed application components to share a common application directory with components that execute in other run-time environments across the distributed enterprise.

Additionally, SAS Integration Technologies uses directory services to host all of its product infrastructure and run-time configuration information. This includes server and transport bindings, publish/subscribe channel and subscriber profiles, package archive repositories, and data source locators.

For Version 9 of Integration Technologies, SAS provides the SAS Open Metadata Architecture. The Open Metadata Architecture provides a central repository for metadata for the entire enterprise. For more information about the SAS Open Metadata Architecture, refer to the SAS 9.1 Open Metadata Interface: Reference. For the SAS Metadata Server, SAS includes the SAS Management Console which enables you to administer the configuration information using a graphical user interface. For details on administering the SAS Metadata Server, refer to the SAS Intelligence Platform: System Administration Guide.

Another type of directory service is the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). LDAP was developed at the University of Michigan with support from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Using this access protocol, applications can search, retrieve, add, delete, and modify objects in an enterprise directory from anywhere within the distributed environment. For the LDAP server, SAS includes the IT Administrator which enables you to administer the configuration information using a graphical user interface. For details on administering the LDAP server, refer to the SAS Integration Technologies: Administrator's Guide (LDAP Version).

This Directory Services section provides information on how to incorporate the LDAP directory services functions into your SAS programs.