Uniform access to Internet directory services

TLDR: As networks and internetworks of computers expand in size and scope, discovery and location of resources becomes a primary function of the networked computing environment and dynamic directory services provide more timely and accurate information about network resources than static tables.

Abstract: As networks and internetworks of computers expand in size and scope, discovery and location of resources becomes a primary function of the networked computing environment. Static tables describing network resources have been replaced by dynamic directory services, such as X.500 and the Internet Domain Name System. These dynamic directory services provide more timely and accurate information about network resources than static tables.A wide variety of services address various components of the resource discovery and location problem. These services can be loosely classified as either low-level protocols or high-level services. Low-level protocols, such as RARP and ICMP, are simple delivery protocols and provide limited information; high-level services, such as the Internet Domain Name System and X.500, use complex delivery protocols to answer complex queries. Neither class of directory service is appropriate in all situations. Low-level services are too restrictive in the type of queries and information they support, while high-level services may be too expensive for some low-function networks.