Metadirectory or Virtual Directory?

Jeff Bohren discusses that both of these technologies are just tools and you should use the most appropriate tool for your particular scenario. I couldn't agree more.

In the "old days" (i.e. 1995) we had spirited discussions about whether the metadirectory should be "real-time" look-up based or whether it should "cache" data. Caching won out simply because - in those days - we couldn't make assumptions on things like network bandwidth and the like. Today, however, most companies are running fat pipes internally and externally. In fact, most people are running fat pipes - mine is 15M down and 5M up at my house.

My question is why is there still a differentiation between the technologies? It would seem to me that a better solution would offer us the best of both worlds. The ability to do real-time look-ups, virtual attributes, data manipulation *and* also offers the metadirectory "store and forward" approach.

So when Matt Flynn says that metadirectories aren't dead they are just aging - he is totally right. It's time to consolidate these technologies.

identity management, QSFT, Quest Software