{{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
A metadirectory system provides for the flow of data between one or more
directory service
In computing, a directory service or name service maps the names of network resources to their respective network addresses. It is a shared information infrastructure for locating, managing, administering and organizing everyday items and network r ...
s and
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...
s, in order to maintain synchronization of that data, and is an important part of identity management systems. The data being synchronized typically are collections of entries that contain user profiles and possibly authentication or policy information. Most metadirectory deployments synchronize data into at least one
LDAP
The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP ) is an open, vendor-neutral, industry standard application protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed directory information services over an Internet Protocol (IP) network. Directory servi ...
-based directory server, to ensure that LDAP-based applications such as
single sign-on
Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication scheme that allows a user to log in with a single ID to any of several related, yet independent, software systems.
True single sign-on allows the user to log in once and access services without re-enterin ...
and portal servers have access to recent data, even if the data is mastered in a non-LDAP data source.
Metadirectory products support filtering and transformation of data in transit.
Most identity management suites from commercial vendors include a metadirectory product, or a
user provisioning In telecommunication, provisioning involves the process of preparing and equipping a network to allow it to provide new services to its users. In National Security/Emergency Preparedness telecommunications services, ''"provisioning"'' equates to ...
product.
See also
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Virtual directory In computing, the term virtual directory has a couple of meanings. It may simply designate (for example in IIS) a folder which appears in a path but which is not actually a subfolder of the preceding folder in the path. However, this article will ...
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Identity correlation
In information systems, identity correlation is a process that reconciles and validates the proper ownership of disparate user account login IDs (user names) that reside on systems and applications throughout an organization and can permanently lin ...
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Microsoft Identity Integration Server
Microsoft Identity Integration Server (MIIS) is an identity management (IdM) product offered by Microsoft. It is a service that aggregates identity-related information from multiple data-sources. The goal of MIIS is to provide organizations with a ...
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NetIQ Identity Manager
NetIQ is a product line within the CyberRes line of business at Micro Focus, which includes solutions focused on cybersecurity, including ArcSight, Fortify, Voltage, and NetIQ.
NetIQ was previously based in Houston, Texas, with products that pr ...