Chapter 3. Designing the Directory Schema

The site survey conducted in Chapter 2, Planning the Directory Data revealed information about the data which will be stored in the directory. The directory schema describes the types of data in the directory, so determining what schema to use reflects decisions on how to represent the data stored in the directory. During the schema design process, each data element is mapped to an LDAP attribute, and related elements are gathered into LDAP object classes. A well-designed schema helps to maintain the integrity of the directory data.

This chapter describes the directory schema and how to design a schema for unique organizational needs.

For information on replicating a schema, see Section 7.4.4, “Schema Replication”.