Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

Lightweight
Directory Access
Protocol

LDAP is an acronym for Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol. It is an Internet Protocol developed by the
University of Michigan. It consists of a directory of records
which is centralized and accessed by programs to retrieve information. Other
than records, it is also used to share devices like a printer on a network. Here, a common
username and password is provided to several users to access LDAP services.
Since it is a protocol, it is used to exchange information between a client and server,
with a set of rules and fi lters. For example, if the sever is an address book, the client will
only establish a connection to the LDAP and vice versa.
Nowadays, almost all email programs support LDAP. Some LDAP clients may only be
able to read from a server whereas some may be able to write information as well. LDAP
allows administrators to defi ne rules for specifi c users such as read, write or execute for
security purposes.
A major disadvantage of LDAP is that it does not include encryption, hence
additional protection like an encrypted SSL connection is required.