[This documentation is preliminary and
subject to change.]
ADAM has both functional benefits and operational benefits for
developers that create or adapt directory-enabled applications.
Functional Benefits of ADAM
Developers using ADAM have access to the following benefits:
ADAM uses the same directory service technology as Active
Directory. This means there is a common framework for both the
network operating system (NOS) services of Active Directory and the
application services of ADAM.
Use of the same directory service technology increases
reusability of design and code between Active Directory and
ADAM.
ADAM increases the scalability of directory services by
separating the NOS services from the application services.
Multiple instances of ADAM, each tailored to a specific
application, can run on a server.
Each instance of ADAM can have a separate schema independent of
the Active Directory schema.
ADAM can use X.500-style naming contexts, such as O=Fabrikam
and C=US.
To increase application security, ADAM can use Windows security
principals for authentication and access control.
Development for ADAM can occur on Microsoft Windows XP
Professional as well as on Windows Server 2003 family
operating systems.
Operational Benefits of ADAM
An application using ADAM has the following operational
benefits:
ADAM is easy to deploy. Installation and setup are simple.
ADAM can be installed without affecting Active Directory.
ADAM can be reinstalled or restarted without a reboot.
ADAM uses the same administrative model as Active
Directory.
ADAM increases reliability by separating application directory
services from NOS directory services.