System Architecture University of Maryland

1
System ArchitectureUniversity of Maryland

• David Henry
• Office of Information Technology
• December 6, 2002

2
The Situation

• Systems developed over time
• A number of Legacy issues
• Result
• Many independent systems
• Inconsistent user interfaces
• More confusing to users
• Need a more cohesive environment

3
Applications - Today
User

• Some applications run on central systems
• Some are web-based
• Some are client/server
• User ID/password on each may be independent of
  other systems

Web Browser
WEB Application
WEB Application
Inst. data
Inst. data
4
Applications - Future

• Most are web-based
• Some are client/server
• Share common data collections
• Use common ID/password
• Use common roles management system
• Easily incorporated into a portal

5
IT InfrastructureCommon ID/Password Check
User
Web Browser
Common User Information (ID/Password Check)
Web Application
Institutional data
6
IT Infrastructure

• Directory
• LDAP - Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
• Unique ID management system
• Standard ID/password verification services
• Clearly defined set of attributes for use in
  determining roles and access rights

7
IT Infrastructure - The Directory

• Contains information on everyone in the
  Organization
• Defines Unique ID
• Includes
• Unique ID
• Name
• E-mail
• Phone
• Address
• Status (Faculty, Staff, Student, Affiliate)
• Position Title Department

University Directory
8
IT Infrastructure - The Directory

• May be used for
• User ID and Password verification/authentication
• Storing and Retrieving information about an
  individual
• Determining the Role of an individual/authorizatio
  n
• Is an Enterprise Resource
• May contain information on other than people
  (equipment, rooms, etc.)

University Directory
9
IT Infrastructure - Typical App
User
Web Browser
Web Application
University Directory
Roles/Rules
Institutional data
10
Constituencies/Roles

• Faculty
• Staff
• Students
• Affiliates
• Prospective Students
• Alumni

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IT Infrastructure - The Directory

• Single sign-on
• Common and consistent (standards-based - LDAP)
  mechanism for authentication and authorization
• 24X7 services
• Ability to use freely available access tools
• Many COTS packages contain hooks for LDAP already!

12
Applications
User
Web Browser
Web Application
Web Application
University Directory
Roles/Rules
Roles/Rules
Institutional data
13
Portal
User
Web Browser
Web Portal
App1
App2
App3
University Directory
Roles/Rules
Institutional data
14
Conclusion

• A stable infrastructure for distributed
  applications is critical
• Single Sign-on is better than multiple
  ID/password pairs
• The directory can provide the basis for the
  overall architecture