What's New in Directory Access?
With Directory Access in Mac OS X version 10.3, you can configure the following new directory services features:
- Support for LDAP directory replication. If you configure a connection to an LDAP directory that has replicas on your network and the connection fails, your computer automatically connects to the closest available replica.
- Simpler integration with Active Directory. Now you can access basic user, group, and computer information stored in Microsoft's proprietary directory domain on a Windows 2000 or Windows 2003 server without making any modifications to the Active Directory schema. (Active Directory schema modifications are required to fully manage Mac OS X clients with Mac OS X Server.)
- Unified configuration of connections to LDAPv3 and LDAPv2 directories. You now access an LDAPv2 directory by configuring an LDAPv3 connection. If your computer has an existing configuration for an LDAPv2 connection, it is automatically converted to LDAPv3.
- Combined configuration of BSD flat file and NIS. A single sheet now has connections settings for an NIS domain and information about using BSD flat files (which don't require connection settings).
- File server browsing based on Directory Access settings. The Finder's Network globe now lists file servers that directory services discovers by using the service discovery protocols enabled in Directory Access. These include Rendezvous, SMB, SLP, and AppleTalk.