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The Linux® LDAP server is a key tool for DevOps today. A majority of these servers, however, are still existing on-prem, despite the shift of IT to the cloud. Luckily, a new cloud-based LDAP-as-a-Service platform is emerging on the scene to meet the needs of IT admins as they migrate to the cloud. With this service platform, IT admins can simply shift to a cloud LDAP solution instead of having to install, configure, and manage an on-prem Linux LDAP server.
History of the LDAP Server
The LDAP protocol was introduced in the early 1990s and soon became the authentication protocol of choice due to its usability and performance. OpenLDAP™ emerged soon after that as the open source LDAP server with a large number of variants. Despite the fact that Windows dominated IT at the time, the majority of admins chose to leverage a Linux LDAP server when using OpenLDAP or the other variants available. OpenLDAP was based in Linux, and given Linux’s greater performance and deep rooted station in the DevOps community, it made sense to use the Linux LDAP server over a Windows implementation.
Linux LDAP Servers in the Future
Since the development of this traditional IT realm, the world shifted to the cloud, bringing with it a variety of solutions such as AWS® and other SaaS tools (e.g. GitHub, Jira, Slack, and others). With the advent of DevOps tools, such as Docker, Kubernetes, OpenVPN, and more, LDAP remained a popular choice for authentication services. However, now the challenge was that IT admins had to manage the Linux LDAP server, rather than purchase the capability as a service, much like the rest of their cloud-based infrastructure.
The good news is that a modern approach to directory services has emerged with an LDAP-as-a-Service offering. This cloud LDAP solution is available from JumpCloud® Directory-as-a-Service® and enables IT organizations to simply point their IT resources to a multi-tenant cloud Linux LDAP server environment managed by a third party. In addition, IT admins get the benefit of pay as you go, with high availability, security, and scalability.
Cloud LDAP: LDAP-as-a-Service
With JumpCloud, IT admins can connect their end users to all the application resources they need through LDAP. Since it is leveraged through the cloud, LDAP-as-a-Service takes the burden of implementing a Linux LDAP server off the shoulders of admins. Also, since JumpCloud DaaS is a non-affiliated third party solution, it federates access to systems regardless of platform (Windows®, Mac®, or Linux). DaaS also propagates access across networks, files, servers, and applications, no matter their location.
To learn more about leveraging cloud LDAP-as-a-Service for your Linux LDAP server, contact our Customer Success team. You can also see if JumpCloud Daas is an appropriate solution for your organization by scheduling a demo of the platform or signing up for Directory-as-a-Service. When you sign up for an account, your first ten users are free.
