Connection-less Lightweight X.500 Directory Access Protocol

Status of this Memo This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. X.500 The protocol described in this document is designed to provide access to the Directory while not incurring the resource requirements of the Directory Access Protocol (DAP) [3]. In particular, it is aimed at avoiding the elapsed time that is associated with connection-oriented communication and it facilitates use of the Directory in a manner analagous to the DNS [5,6]. It is specifically targeted at simple lookup applications that require to read a small number of attribute values from a single entry. It is intended to be a complement to DAP and LDAP [4]. The protocol specification draws heavily on that of LDAP. 1. Background The Directory can be used as a repository for many kinds of information. The full power of DAP is unnecessary for applications that require simple read access to a few attribute values. Applications addressing is a good example of this type of use where an application entity needs to determine the Presentation Address (PA) of a peer entity given that peer's Application Entity Title (AET). If the AET is a Directory Name (DN) then the required result can be obtained from the PA attribute of the Directory entry identified by the AET. This is very similar to DNS. Young Standards Track [Page 1]