IBM this week previewed a new release of its directory technology designed to triple the speed at which end users can be authenticated to use network resources.
SecureWay Directory 3.1.1, like previous versions, permits applications, such as IBM's DB2 database software, to authenticate end users and give them access to appropriate resources. The technology was shown at IBM's Networking Solutions Technical Conference.
Another improvement is the ability to do what IBM calls multi-mastering in a lightweight directory access protocol environment. This means any server can accept updates on security data, such as user privileges and revocations, and distribute that data to other servers across a network. Previously, only a single server could perform these functions.
Among the benefits is that an end user in a remote office can now dial into a local rather than central server to access the latest data in a directory.
Another new feature is the ability of a client to authenticate a server. Previously, servers always authenticated clients. The new feature adds an extra level of security.
The free SecureWay Directory 3.1.1 upgrade will be available by the end of August.