Directories

It seems natural to place employee and service information in a relational database management system (RDBMS). This presents some disadvantages:

  • The nature of the information is “read-mostly.” Directories are optimized for fast searching. An RDBMS is optimized to provide read-write access.

  • The tight consistency of an RDBMS isn't necessary. Two administrators may update the same attribute of a given entry. The last update wins, with no fuss caused at the server.

  • Entries may have optional attributes. A person's secondary email address need not be present. It wouldn't be returned in a search. An RDBMS uses nullable fields for this purpose, but a null RDBMS field may be returned in a search.

  • Distributed locations may each need local replicated ...

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