Performing a Site Survey28 Netscape Directory Server Deployment Guide • October 2004Performing a Site SurveyA site survey is a formal method for discovering and characterizing the contentsof your directory. Budget plenty of time for performing a site survey, as data isthe key to your directory architecture.The site survey consists of the followingtasks, 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 dataneeds.• Identify data sources.Survey your enterprise and identify sources of data (such as Windows NT orNetware directories, PBX systems, Human Resources databases, emailsystems, and so forth).• 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 maintainin your 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 applicationsand design your architecture accordingly. How available your directoryneeds to be affects how you replicate data and configure chaining policies toconnect data stored on remote servers.For more information about replication, refer to “Designing the ReplicationProcess,” on page 107. For more information on chaining, refer to “Designingthe Directory Topology,” on page 87.• 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.
