SDX Directory Schema and Object Model
The SDX directory schema is based on X.500/LDAP standards and the Common Information Model version 2.5 (CIM 2.5) schemas. The CIM provides definition of management information for systems, networks, applications, and services. The SDX schema extends the CIM to provide elements for modeling services; residential, enterprise, and retail customers; policies; network elements; and others.
The directory object model represents the way objects are stored in a directory. An object comprises data that is stored as entries and organized into a hierarchical structure called a directory information tree (DIT). A DIT contains a number of other trees called subtrees. Figure 4 shows the top-level objects, as well as some subordinate objects in the Users folder in the SDX directory tree as it appears in SDX Admin.
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Each entry has a number of attributes—special characteristics that provide information about the entry. An attribute can also be referred to as a property.
Each entry has an attribute to specify the name for the entry. A name for an entry must be unique within a specified level in the tree hierarchy; for example, each retailer name must be unique with the Users folder, as illustrated in Figure 4.
Naming Convention for Entries
The name for an entry can be expressed as either a relative distinguished name (RDN) or a distinguished name (DN). The RDN identifies a unique entry at one level in the directory tree. Each RDN identifies an attribute type with the associated value. The following list shows sample RDNs from Figure 4:
o=umc
o=Users
retailername=virtual-SP
ou=first-region
unique-id=joe
NOTE: Do not use the "#" character in DNs. It can cause various problems.
A DN is a comma-separated sequence of hierarchical entry names in the tree, concatenated from a specified entry backward to the base, or root, of the tree structure. In contrast to the RDN, the DN for an entry is unique within the entire directory. Each entry in the directory is identified and can be located by its distinguished name (DN). The DN for subscriber Joe would be the following:
unique-id=joe, ou=first-region, retailername=virtual-SP, o=Users, o=umc
A base DN is the DN of an object that serves as the starting point for a directory search. For the directory as a whole, the base DN is o=umc for a default installation of the SRC software; it is the root object of the tree. For a search of policies, the base DN is the following:
A bind DN is the DN of a login to the directory. This DN must be entered (like a username) with a password to log in to the directory. In the SRC software, you use the bind DN and a password when you access the directory; for example, when you start SDX Admin to view or modify the contents of the directory.
Table 5 lists some of the common DN attribute types.
Organizational unit name (In the directory for SDX the organizational unit is typically a directory.)