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From: atkins@hpindda.cup.hp.COM (Brian Atkins)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.iso.x400
Subject: Re: X.500 name-space question
Message-ID: <47920016@hpindda.cup.hp.com>
Date: 10 Jan 91 04:56:01 GMT
References: <1991Jan6.125643.39433@camb.com>
Organization: HP Information Networks, Cupertino, CA
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ReSent-From: Jerry Sweet <mhsnews-request@ICS.UCI.EDU>
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If you use the top level country name to separate branches, you're
organization will be spread across multiple subtrees.  If, however,
you locate a feasible root that all parts of your organization
can live under, you can keep it all in one subtree.

Although the standard would accommodate either approach, in reality
it will probably be much to your advantage from a support and
configuration point of view to keep your org under one root.

For example, take my company, HP.  Assume we have research labs in
the US, France (FR), and the UK (GB), here are the two alternatives:


Split by country:

    /C=US/O=HP/OU=LABS
    /C=FR/O=HP/OU=LABS
    /C=GB/O=Hewlett-Packard/OU=LABS

    (Note that the Orgname "HP" might not be available in all
    countries, already being assigned to some other outfit)


Single root:

    /C=US/O=HP/OU=HP-UK/OU=LABS
	      /OU=HP-FR/OU=LABS
	      /OU=HP-US/OU=LABS

    (Or something along those lines)

The latter would keep the entire HP name space, now and into the future,
in one subtree of the name space.  Note that this in no way imposes a
structure on the actual distribution of subtrees across DSAs, machines,
or countries.  If fact, it makes perfect since in this case for the
naming context (subtree) holding the "French" data to be in physically
France, even though the naming prefix is /C=US/O=HP....

Help?

Brian Atkins		X.500 Development Team
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Atkins               atkins@hpindqj.HP.COM        (408) 447-2057
Hewlett Packard (43LS)     19420 Homestead Rd.     Cupertino, CA 95014