DCE Global Directory Service
The DCE Global Directory Service (GDS) is a directory service implementation based on the international standard CCITT X.500/ISO 9594. When present in a DCE cell, the GDS can serve two basic functions. First, it can participate in a high level, possibly worldwide directory service tying together independent DCE cells. Second, it can be used as an additional directory service to CDS for storing object names and attributes in a central place.
Like the Cell Directory Service, GDS is a replicated, distributed database. The GDS database contains information that can be distributed over several GDS servers. In addition, copies of information can be stored in multiple GDS servers, and the information can also be cached. The unit of replication in GDS is the directory entry (whole subtrees can also be specified).
The GDS directory is structured differently from CDS, and names are also different in that they are typed, as described later. Programmers can access both DCE Directory Services, however, using the X/Open Directory Service API (see The Directory Service Interfaces for a description of XDS).
The following topics describe the GDS components, possible GDS configurations, the GDS database and names, an overview of how GDS works, and the relationship of DCE GDS to underlying network services and international standards.
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