What is "directory service"

n. (context computing English) The software system that stores, organizes and provides access to information in a map between names and values.

A directory service or name service, maps the names of network resources to their respective network addresses. Using a directory service, a user does not have to remember the physical address of a network resource; providing a name locates the resource. A directory server is a server which provides directory service. Each resource on the network is considered an object on the directory server. Information about a particular resource is stored as attributes of that object. In some directory services, information within objects can be made secure so that only users with the available permissions can access it.

A directory service defines the namespace for the network. A namespace in this context is the term that is used to hold one or more objects as named entries. The directory design process normally has a set of rules that determine how network resources are named and identified. The rules specify that the names be unique and unambiguous.

A directory service is a shared information infrastructure for locating, managing, administering, and organizing everyday items and network resources, which can include volumes, folders, files, printers, users, groups, devices, telephone numbers and other objects. A directory service is a critical component of a network operating system.