The Emergence of the Directory-Enabled Operating System
John P. Slone · Auerbach Publications eBooks · 2020
This chapter presents several issues related to operating systems in the local area network-based enterprise network, and introduces several major directory technologies. When considering these operating system issues in conjunction with directory technologies, it became clear that directories can play an integral role in advancing the state of the art of operating systems. Specifically, operating systems are becoming increasingly distributed, in the sense that they are making increased use of distributed resources, and in the sense that they are providing an unprecedented level of cooperation among desktop systems and enterprise servers. Identifying, locating, and accessing these distributed resources is typically the job of the operating system. Support for varying levels of service has long been a feature supported by multi-user operating systems. For instance, certain jobs were run at a higher priority than others, typically for reasons related to the billing function, and consequently received a higher level of service.