Directory services are a critical military component, used for tactical and strategic systems. Military directories, specified by ACP 133, are used to provide information services, support of military messaging, and as supporting infrastructure for other applications such as PKI (Public Key Infrastructure).

MILITARY DIRECTORY ARCHITECTURE

A military directory, as illustrated below is provided by a number of directory servers. Data is replicated between servers, and data is highly replicated. A key goal of a military directory is that the data needed by a client will be in its local directory server. This means that a client is only dependent on the local directory server and not on external network access. This provides high resilience and survivability.

A military directory supports a range of applications, including direct user access (e.g. white pages service), application by desktop applications (e.g. mail clients) and access by applications (e.g. military messaging servers). Access to a military directory usually uses the LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol). Other protocols for a military directory are specified by ACP 133.

There is a requirement to administer data in the military directory, and security is critical to both data and directory administration.

Directory data is shared with partners, so the replication model of a military directory extends to support partner directories. Data should not be changed between directories - consistent naming is important to enable communication and essential for secure applications relying on digital signatures. Only selected data is replicated externally, to save resource and to share information on a "need to know" basis.

What Isode Provides

Isode provides all of the servers and management tools needed to build a military directory:

• Directory Server. Isode's M-Vault X.500 directory server is the core component of Isode’s military directory solution providing:

  • ACP 133 Conformance.

  • Flexible replication.

  • Security features.

• Secure Administration. Isode's Sodium (Secure Open Data, Identity & User Manager) provides secure GUI management of data in a military directory.

• Operational Management. Isode provides tools for operating directory services, and integration with standard network management systems.

Together, these provide a full military directory solution.

More information

For more information on Isode's Military Messaging products, visit the Isode website here.

ISODE LTD 5 Castle Business Village 36 Station Road Hampton Middlesex TW12 2BX Tel: +44 (0)20 8783 2964 Fax: +44 (0)20 8783 9292 Website: www.isode.com Email: marketing@isode.com Contact: Will Sheward / Hannah Gibbs