User management and directory services
Kerio MailServer allows administrators to manage their users in three different ways.
- Kerio MailServer's own internal user database
- Microsoft Active Directory
- Apple Open Directory
Directory services, such as Microsoft Active Directory or Apple Open Directory, allow administrators to centrally manage and share information on user accounts and network resources. In a nutshell, directory service combines LDAP and DNS.
Internal user database
Kerio MailServer's internal user database is the easiest choice for smaller companies with fewer than 250 users, whether the mail server runs on Windows, Linux or Mac OS X. For more elaborate setups, Kerio MailServer can maintain its separate internal user database independently from the directory service, and run both databases concurrently.
Microsoft Active Directory
Companies already using Microsoft Active Directory, or those planning to manage more than 250 email accounts, can easily map their users and groups from the Active Directory user database to Kerio MailServer.
The Kerio Active Directory Extension is a schema extension installed on the domain controller that allows Kerio MailServer user properties (e.g. quotas and aliases) to be managed directly using the Microsoft Management Console. This component is only necessary if Kerio MailServer uses LDAP to synchronize user accounts with Active Directory.
Apple Open Directory
Companies using Mac for their centralized directory services can authenticate their Kerio MailServer users through Apple Open Directory (10.2) or Open Directory 2 (10.3), part of Mac OS X Server.
Apple Open Directory 2 uses OpenLDAP, the open source implementation of LDAP, to provide directory services for mixed-platform environments.
Transparent synchronization
Directory services support allows Kerio MailServer to directly access a remote Active Directory/Open Directory user database. The support is transparent so there's no need to import the user database into the mail server and there's no need to worry about synchronizing the internal user databases with the directory service.
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