Re: OpenLDAP in Production

[Michael Ströder <michael@stroeder.com>]

Brian K. Jones wrote:
> I was thumbing through the pages of an LDAP book in the bookstore and 
> came across a paragraph about OpenLDAP, which said:
>
> "...I personally know of people who have done significant testing and 
> prototyping work using these products. However, I know of nobody who has 
> yet trusted them to support his or her business applications. Bottom 
> line: If you want to play with compiling and modifying your own LDAP 
> server, this is a good place to start."

I would never trust this kind of general statement no matter if pro or 
contra Open Source software.

> This is discouraging, as I had planned to put OpenLDAP into production, 
> after evaluating eDir and, to a lesser extent, the Sun product.  Aside 
> from GUI tools and docs (which I don't have a particularly dire need 
> for), where is OpenLDAP lacking compared to eDir and Sun?  Why shouldn't 
> I put this into production?

There is no reason to put or not put OpenLDAP into production provided that you
- have clearly defined *your* requirements,
- evaluated features/support/maintenance,
- checked interoperability with all LDAP-enabled applications and
- heavily tested it in *your* environment.

You also have to do this with *each and every* commercial product. Expect to 
find showstopper bugs in LDAP servers of 'leading directory vendors'. Bang 
hard on any product before making a decision.

Ciao, Michael.