{"id":31761,"date":"2021-05-12T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/?p=31761"},"modified":"2024-02-08T11:33:57","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T16:33:57","slug":"free-cloud-ldap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/blog\/free-cloud-ldap","title":{"rendered":"Free Cloud LDAP"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
LDAP<\/a> infrastructure has been widely implemented by IT admins since its inception in the mid 1990s. The concept of LDAP was brilliant at the time: a lightweight, flexible, and open protocol for directory authentication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, as IT infrastructure has evolved, the open source LDAP has transmuted into a solution that is difficult to implement, customize, and maintain, yet it is foundational to just about every network environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Traditional LDAP setups not only require hardware and software, but also a great deal of networking infrastructure and monitoring to ensure that the authentication approach is both highly available and secure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An additional level of effort is required to connect IT resources to said LDAP infrastructure since each device or application leverages LDAP in a slightly different way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Managing LDAP can be a daunting (and expensive) task for any IT admin, regardless of your experience or technical expertise. Is there a free cloud LDAP alternative you and your organization can take advantage of that doesn\u2019t have all of the drawbacks of running an open source LDAP server<\/a> yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we dive into a free cloud LDAP alternative<\/a>, let\u2019s explore some of the LDAP options on the market today. One of the most commonly known options is OpenLDAP\u2122<\/a>, an open source implementation of LDAP that\u2019s been a long-standing favorite of IT admins. While it is free to use, OpenLDAP is challenging to implement and manage without the proper technical knowhow. Additionally, as an on-prem instance, OpenLDAP requires physical hardware to run, which drives up costs for IT organizations. OpenLDAP isn\u2019t a \u201cfire and forget\u201d solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other LDAP options include 389 Directory Server<\/a> or Red Hat Directory Server<\/a>. Both of these solutions are free to use as well, although the process of leveraging them is similar to OpenLDAP. They are on-prem instances, and require hardware and the associated networking \/ security \/ high availability equipment, plus keen and on-going management.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCurrent LDAP Options<\/h2>\n\n\n\n