University of Illinois System

Directory Services

Service Description

LDAP (Oracle Directory Server) services are provided by AITS. Directory services are databases of information for storing, accessing, managing, and using different kinds of information about users and resources in a computing environment.

Oracle Directory Server is an object-oriented implementations of directory services based on X.500 and LDAP that allow one to build sophisticated naming schemes and databases across network-wide resources.

As a consumer of these services, the enterprise customer will realize the following benefits:

  • Managed replication of servers
  • Schema management to include extensions and test
  • Directory maintenance
  • Service Location Protocol infrastructure
  • Support, maintenance and planning for the directory
  • Standards and guidelines to facilitate directory integrity and support measures

Oracle Directory Server was developed as hierarchical designs with multi-levels of organizational units, users, groups, and other network resources. The Oracle Directory Server structure, referred to as the Enterprise LDAP, was built by organizing objects in a multiple level structure.

Hours of Availability

This service is available to customers 24/7, excluding planned outages, maintenance windows and unavoidable events. Maintenance windows are used only when needed for planned changes that have gone through the AITS Change Control Process. In addition to the standard AITS maintenance windows, site-specific and service-specific changes may be coordinated with customers at non-standard times.

Standard maintenance windows are defined as:

  • 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. each Sunday when application usage is at its lowest
  • After 5 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday, unless business needs to make a change during business hours
  • The second Wednesday of the month from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. for patching Microsoft servers
  • 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. three Sundays a year for routine Windows and Linux maintenance

Customer Responsibilities

  • Submit requests for support by opening a Service Request with the AITS Service Desk at 217-333-3102 (Urbana/Springfield), 312-996-4806 (Chicago) or servicedeskaits@uillinois.edu.
  • Agencies who operate their own networks are responsible for:
    • Submitting approved directory change requests to AITS Security
    • Allow AITS to perform regular maintenance to keep patches at current supported levels
    • Notifying AITS when a new product requires a schema extension so the product can be installed into a test tree to determine compatibility and risk issues

How Do We Charge?

Service Level Agreements detailing projected hours and cost will be worked out with each customer depending on the desired level of support.