HP 3000 Manuals

Planning The Network Directory [ NS3000/iX NMMGR Screens Reference Manual ] MPE/iX 5.0 Documentation


NS3000/iX NMMGR Screens Reference Manual

Planning The Network Directory 

There are two schools of thought on how network directories should be
planned and configured on a network, as follows:

   *   Centralized network directories.

   *   Decentralized network directories.

The centralized school of thought requires each node on the internet to
have the same network directory.This means that every node in the network
must have an entry in the network directory.  The advantage to this is
that you update the network directory in one place, then copy it to the
rest of the world.  The disadvantage is that network directories for
large internets are going to be large.

The recommended way to create and maintain your network directory using
the centralized method is to assign a single node as the central 
administrative node.You configure the network directory on this node and
then copy it to all other nodes on the network.  When the network
directory is updated, it is updated on the central administrative node,
then copied to the other nodes.  This procedure decreases the possibility
of incompatible directories.  You may want to assign a central
administrative node for each network or for the entire internet.

The decentralized school of thought suggests that each network directory
be configured individually on each node.  The advantage to this is that
you can customize the network directory on each node for security
purposes using local and global entries.  The network directory will also
be smaller because it will only contain entries for that particular node.
However, updates must be done manually on each node.

Copying and Merging Network Directory Files 

The first time you configure the network directory, an entry for all
remote IP addresses must be added manually using the NMMGR screens.
After the first network directory is configured, you can use the MPE
STORE and RESTORE commands to copy the network directory to other
nodes.(This is assuming you have adopted the centralized method of
network directory maintenance.  If you use the decentralized method, you
must always use NMMGR to create and maintain the network directory.)


NOTE The network directory uses a KSAM file pair. Therefore, when copying a directory, be sure to copy both the data file and the key file.
Once a network directory has been established on each node in the internet, you can set up a job stream to automate network directory updates. The MERGEDIR command is part of a maintenance interface provided primarily to support the updating of directories using a batch job. Using this method, a job or series of jobs can be scheduled at regular intervals to copy and then merge remote directories into the local-system directory. Refer to the MERGEDIR and the MAKESTREAM commands in Using the Node Management Services (NMS) Utilities.


MPE/iX 5.0 Documentation