3PAR Enables Native LDAP Support for IT Security Administration
Single point of security management for hosts, applications, directories, and storage
3PAR announced today native support for lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP). Support for LDAP permits centralized user authentication and authorization using a standard protocol for managing access to IT resources. An enterprise can now integrate 3PAR Utility Storage -- the company’s massively scalable storage platform -- with standard, open enterprise directory services, providing simplified security administration with centralized access control and identity management.
User authentication and authorization are tightly scrutinized processes, and complexity can lead to security vulnerability. Using standards such as LDAP, managing authentication and authorization in an environment of heterogeneous equipment and multiple users is safer and less cumbersome. The company notes that storage device user authentication (proof of identity, usually with user names and passwords) and user authentication (verification users have permission for particular operations) have traditionally been managed device by device, which is complex to administer; failure to maintain device-based security policies can compromise integrity of data and data service levels, 3PAR points out.
By adding LDAP support, 3PAR Utility Storage makes managing the storage device authentication and authorization simpler and more efficient. LDAP, which is a popular standard network protocol for communication between clients and servers, is used for adding, removing, and modifying resources, and for searching hierarchical directory information. 3PAR’s LDAP support lets administrators easily manage the authentication and authorization of 3PAR InServ Storage Server users “by leveraging proven, well-known processes that are commonplace in IT environments,” the company said in a statement. As an added benefit, the to more quickly add, delete, and modify storage devices and administrative resources improves IT’s agility.
3PAR support for LDAP includes Microsoft® Active Directory. 3PAR LDAP support comes bundled with the base 3PAR InForm® Operating System and is available for all InServ Storage Server models.
More information can be found at http://www.3PAR.com.