Performing a Site Survey28 Netscape Directory Server Deployment Guide • December 2001Performing a Site SurveyA site survey is a formal method for discovering and characterizing the contents ofyour directory. Budget plenty of time for performing a site survey, as data is thekey to your directory architecture.The site survey consists of the following tasks,which are described briefly here and in more detail next:• Identify the applications that use your directory.Determine the directory-enabled applications you deploy and their data needs.• Identify data sources.Survey your enterprise and identify sources of data (such as NT or Netwaredirectories, PBX systems, Human Resources databases, email systems, and soforth).• Characterize the data your directory needs to contain.Determine what objects should be present in your directory (for examplepeople or groups), and what attributes of these objects you need to maintain inyour directory (such as user name and passwords).• Determine the level of service you need to provide.Decide how available your directory data needs to be to client applications anddesign your architecture accordingly. How available your directory needs tobe affects how you replicate data and configure chaining policies to connectdata stored on remote servers.For more information about replication, refer to Chapter 6, “Designing theReplication Process” on page 95. For more information on chaining, refer toChapter 5, “Designing the Directory Topology” on page 77.• Identify a data master.A data master contains the primary source for directory data. This data mightbe mirrored to other servers for load balancing and recovery purposes. Foreach piece of data, determine its data master.• Determine data ownership.For each piece of data, determine the person responsible for ensuring that thedata is up-to-date.• Determine data access.
