LDAP

Problem

An organization has thousands of users, groups and computers. Applications need a standard way to query centralized directory information.

Solution — LDAP

LDAP stands for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. A directory exposes hierarchical entries that clients can search. 
Company
 ├─ Users
 │   └─ Alice
 └─ Groups
     └─ Finance
Applications can query attributes and relationships through LDAP.
Core idea: LDAP provides a standard protocol for accessing directory information.