Windows Integration
To check out Windows integration, I tested PGina 1.8.1--a replacement for the regular Microsoft Gina that uses plug-ins to provide additional authentication methods--with the LDAPAuth 1.5 plug-in for LDAP authentication. I easily logged on to my Windows XP with the John Doe credentials. Next, I configured Softerra's freeware LDAP Browser 2.6 to view the directory remotely and had no problem digging through the LDAP structure. With the administrative version of Softerra's product, I'm sure that adding, deleting and modifying data would be just as easy.
Directory Server boasts advanced functionality for synchronization with either Windows Active Directory or the Windows NT 4 SAM. However, I couldn't get the two services to synchronize, even after following every step in the Administration Guide. The product's beta status may have been the reason, though another possibility is that Directory Server was incompatible with the Fedora sync-enabling tool I had downloaded.
Documentation was comprehensive, but a little too much to take in when you're trying to set up the product quickly. I'd' like to see Red Hat put together a special "Quick Install Guide" for those who just want to drop in a disk and go.
Overall, Red Hat Directory Server is a solid entry into the enterprise directory market and will only get better as it matures through the Fedora open-source development project. And because it is LDAP-compliant, it's easy to drop into an environment using LDAP, or it can be easily set up where LDAP is being introduced. If it's missing a feature you're looking for, its open-source status means it can be modified to do exactly what you want. With the upcoming Red Hat Certificate System, Red Hat is working to gain a larger foothold in your organization.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
