Directory Services Findings

1. Background

ldap.mit.edu, MIT's directory service, is used by the Institute to provide information on people and groups.  This project aims to update the current system to provide real-time Moira data and make it more usable by applications.  This will allow us to more easily and rapidly deploy applications, both vendor and open source, by requiring less custom development for Moira integration.  This effort will limit impact on existing infrastructure, requiring no change to current components or applications.  In addition to updating the underlying service, a new group management user interface will be developed by ISDA.

2. Findings

1. Review Current Web Services
   A number of web services were developed as part of the initial MITSIS project, and though they were never intended for widespread deployment, are now in common use.  These services should be reviewed to give us a better understanding of how they are currently used, and how they could be integrated to the new directory system.
    
2. Review Intra-System Data Flow
   Source data for the directory is provided by different MIT systems, including the data warehouse and Moira, which in turn get some of their data from Touchstone, roles and stellar groups.  This flow of data between different systems should be reviewed, focusing on areas such as data suppression and access control.

3. Recommendation from the TAP Consultation