The vision of an environment that is secure, ubiquitous, easy to use, and integrated with everything is worth investigating. Novell has partnered with the leading players in the networking world like Lucent, Nortel, Cisco, Oracle to directory-enable their network solutions.

Another quantum leap in computing

You've already seen the future. We can look to science fiction to find a great vision for computing. There are television shows that take us centuries into the future and show us how computers should work. All futuristic commands require acomputer to know who is talking, their access privileges to such information or commands and the ability to make the commands from anywhere, even on a distant planet. The computer must also have access to an enterprise database, engineering database, and personal databases. Yet, all commands are carried out with very little personal intervention or forethought. They just happen.

If this is the vision and the vision is science fiction, what missing components do we need to make fiction a reality? There has to be something that knows what the relationships are between people and machines and between one machine and another. Otherwise where is the benefit of the network? That missing piece is an integrated directory service at all levels of an enterprise network.

The overall goal is to make all needed network services available to everyone and bring the network to the point that it actually works for you. This is what Novell CEO, Dr Eric Schmidt, calls "world of me." Having your own little world ofinformation and resources and choosing to share what you want, whenever you want, with whomever you want.

Similar cycles The futuristic logic suggests that, "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," this is what networking is all about. Yet in real life, the needs of the few often come before the needs of many. Only a few are privileged to use new technology until it becomes easy enough, prevalent enough and inexpensive enough that everyone can reap the benefits.

Just think about the emergence of the computer. At first, computers were huge and expensive. Then came mainframes, minicomputers, workstations, PCs and now they're talking about Network Computers. With each computing landmark, computers became more complex in design but less expensive and easier to use. User interfaces developed in a like manner. It started with punch cards, then came cryptic languages, then the mouse and windowing environments. Each advancement taking technology closer to the end-user.

Networking is goingthrough the same cycle. First, dumb terminals linked to mainframe computers accessible only to a few people. Next, isolated PCs were connected into local area networks where more people understood and could use the network.

Today with the Internet, intranets and extranets, you can browse enormous amounts of information and collaborate with people anywhere in the world. However, it isn't a plug-and-play world yet for printing across the Internet, for having secure connections to others or for sharing your information with a select group of people. Each step brings us closer to the vision of a personal, invisible network that we call the "world of me". The next step in getting there is the role of directory services.

Directory services

Defining a directory service is simple, what it does for your network isn't. Here is an easy way to think of a directory

Database of objects: A database of users, applications, network devices and other resources you might find on a network. A directoryservice, at least in part, is an object-oriented database representing network users and resources. Objects are structured hierarchically in a directory tree which provides the framework that can be organised the way your business is organised.

Manages relationships: Every user and resource has relationships with other users and resources on the network. A directory controls the relationships between people and machines and between one machine and another. Two ways that a directory manages relationships is through authentication and authorisation.

Authentication: Both the user and the network components need to identify themselves to each other to ensure both are who they say they are and prevent anyone from getting in between to steal information.

Authorisation: Once a user is authenticated, the network allows the authenticated user to manage or use network resources he or she has rights to. Rights are distributed globally, organisationally or across workgroups and then managedby exception at the individual user levels.

Conclusion

A Directory Enabled Network will be transparent to the user and will begin to manage itself. The world of me is the point that it actually works for, where everything is accessible and where you manage and collaborate freely with others is the direct result of an integrated directory service. Directory Enabled Networks simplify your life, save you lots of money, and create an environment for the future of distributed computing.

The author is vice-president of Onward Novell Software (I) Ltd