Directory Services and LDAP

What is a directory service?

A directory service is a database that stores an organization's identities and their relationships to organizational structures and physical resources (computers, printers, etc). LDAP is an industry standard TCP/IP protocol for working with identities and organization structures in a directory service as well as other services that store information about user identities and organizational structures.

A common directory service implementation is Microsoft Active Directory (AD). Active Directory can exchange data using the LDAP protocol as well as OpenID Connect and SAML SSO if extended with Active Directory Federated Services (ADFS).

Is Expert a directory service?

No, Expert does not read or provide user identity or organization data with the LDAP protocol. In order to integrate a directory service with an Expert site, the directory service must provide data to the Expert site through a Single Sign-On identity provider.