Directory assistance Net-style: Lucent's Internet Directory Server gets a tryout from GTE CyberTrust

One of the more daunting obstacles blocking the widespread use of the Internet for commerce is the sheer volume of information available. Even experienced users have some difficulty finding what they're looking for on the World Wide Web, and if you're trying to sell on the Internet, it's even more frustrating.

To remedy this problem, several companies are developing software suites that serve as directories to the Web. Chief among these is Lucent Technologies' Internet Directory Server (IDS), which will get its first workout with GTE CyberTrust Solutions in an electronic certification system for electronic commerce. GTE CyberTrust provides flexible certification solutions to secure a wide range of network-based applications in telecommunications, finance and other markets where secure information is critical. GTE CyberTrust will test the IDS system for interoperability with its Certificate Management System, a flexible, scalable system for creating and deploying digital certificates that will support secure transactions on the Internet. Upon successful completion of the 90-day trial, Lucent will become a recommended directory provider for customers deploying GTE CyberTrust's e-commerce applications, said Tom Carty, vice president of marketing and business development for the Needham, Mass.-based GTE CyberTrust.

"With IDS, we'll be able to enhance our ability to provide an end-to-end offer for deploying electronic business transactions," said Carty. "Building a secure and reliable infrastructure is key in bringing electronic commerce into the mainstream. This is a step in fulfilling that need."

The IDS is a high-capacity server for large directory databases that holds data such as e-mail addresses and subscriber preferences, allowing Internet service providers to offer directory-enabled services like e-commerce, Internet telephony, electronic yellow or white pages, and personalized navigation services as value-added services. The server can handle more than 5 million entries and accommodate 200 queries and 10 updates per second.

The IDS provides replicated failover hosts to minimize the effects of network problems on directory services. It uses an in-band or out-of-band, non-lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) to securely replicate data-both directory information and administrative information-between servers for added reliability. This guarantees any updates or changes to the directory will not be lost if a disk error occurs during the write process.

To ensure security during on-line transactions, communication between the server and the browser is encrypted and validated.

The server also supports LDAP Version 3 with secure sockets layer, an open standard that makes Internet directories mutually accessible, eliminating duplication by storing data in one location rather than on the server for each directory.

"The main differentiation of our native LDAP server is that it uses an object-oriented, commercial database to store text or even large multimedia files," said Vikram Karmarkar, senior product development manager for Lucent. "This provides an extremely flexible and scalable solution, allowing the market to grow and new applications to flourish."

The software can process both queries and updates simultaneously, saving the service provider time and money.

Information is constantly refreshed and updated, as opposed to other systems that are only replicated once a day, Karmarkar said.

* Contains network-level reliability, robust software fault detection and recovery features

* Scales to accommodate more than 5 million entries

* Uses a replicated commercial database for data reliability

* Manages with SNMP

* Offers LDAP and Web-based GUI provisioning and Web-based upload for bulk provisioning

* Provides disk mirroring, automatic software recovery and replicated directory data

* Supports multimedia objects