Windows 7 / Getting Started

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Work with Application Support Services

In addition to its base application services, WS08 offers other support services that together provide a powerful application support platform. Two such services are Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (ADLDS) and the Universal Description, Discover, and Integration (UDDI) service. Both are directory services that provide complementary services to applications. ADLDS lets you have the power of a Lightweight Directory Application Protocol (LDAP) to provide authentication and user management services in support of your applications. UDDI provides a cataloging service that lets you easily locate Web service components.

When you work with complex enterprise-class applications, you will want to take advantage of these two services to extend the power of your applications.

Work with Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services

Directory-enabled applications profit from the power of a directory to store user and group objects. However, directory-enabled applications often require modifications to the directory schema in order to support custom application-specific objects. Since you know that you should minimize the modifications to the ADDS schema as much as possible because you cannot remove them, even though you can disable or reuse them, you need to rely on another directory service. This is where ADLDS comes in. Like the ADDS directory you use to manage your network, ADLDS provides a structured directory service, but one that does not support security principals.

You use ADLDS for directory-enabled applications that require user groupings and other custom objects to provide functionality. In addition, you can link the objects in an ADLDS directory with those in your ADDS directory, letting you provide schema extensions without having to modify your core network directory. This also lets you reuse your base directory as a source for application access controls. Several ADLDS directories can reside on the same server, letting you create centralized directory services for application support. And, since it includes the same replication capabilities as ADDS, ADLDS can be used to create redundant application support infrastructures throughout your network.

TIP>: One very good use of ADLDS is in perimeter networks where you want to have access to the power of a directory, but you do not want to have to manage the overhead of an ADDS network directory.

Once again, ADLDS is added through Add Roles in Server Manager. This is one of the simplest setups in WS08. Once you have installed the role, use Start Menu | Administrative Tools | ADLDS Setup Wizard to create ADLDS instances. Make sure you document the purpose of each instance as you create it.

CAUTION: If you need to remove the ADLDS role from a server, make sure you first remove every instance of ADLDS from the server. Do so by using Control Panel | Programs | Uninstall a Program.

Work with Universal Description, Discover, and Integration Service

UDDI is an XML-based service that lets you build a distributed directory that, in turn, lets you announce your business and Web-enabled services on the Internet. The directory provided by UDDI is similar to a telephone directory. Businesses are listed by name, product, location, and Web service. Like a telephone directory, you can search by business name, Web service name, or even Web service type. This makes it easier to build distributed service-oriented architectures (SOAs), since it's simple and straightforward to discover Web services that complement the applications you build.

UDDI is also installed through Add Roles in Server Manager. When you install UDDI on the server, WS08 will install both the Discovery service and a services database to store service information. Installations can be on a single server, where each portion of the service is installed together, or in distributed mode, where the Discovery service is installed on one server and the database on another. The database portion of the server must run SQL Server and can rely on the Windows Internal Database to do so. In larger implementations, you should install a full version of SQL Server to provide enterprise-level support for this service.

Once installed, you configure UDDI services through the UDDI Services snap-in in Microsoft Management Console (MMC) version 3. Here you can modify UDDI users, integrate your UDDI directory with Active Directory Domain Services, control the encryption of UDDI data on your network, and modify database settings for the service, among other things.

TIP: More information on UDDI services in Windows Server 2008 can be found at http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/servermanager/uddiservices.mspx.