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ALS 2000 Abstract
Gaining the Middleground:
A Linux-based Open Source Middleware
Initiative
Dr. Greg Wettstein Ph.D. and
Johannes Grosen M.S., North Dakota State University
Abstract
Central to the development of the Internet and the resulting business paradigm shift have been the adoption of standards
which have provided the necessary framework for computer systems to cooperate and exchange information. The next
major step necessary to support the continuation of this process is the development of software protocols and tools
which provide the ability to manage the delivery of services to users.
This paper describes a Linux-based middleware initiative which has been deployed at North Dakota State University to
support a Category of Service information delivery system for the North Dakota Higher Education Computing
Network. The system was designed to support a computing model where the majority of the service infrastructure is
supplied by Linux servers and which is extensible to the 11 state institutions comprising the HECN.
The paper begins with a discussion of middleware and its importance in the development of next-generation information
systems. Included in this discussion are the topics of identification, authentication and authorization and the requirement
for them in a modern middleware solution. Central to this topic will be a discussion of the potential threat that
proprietary middleware solutions pose to the continued penetration of Open Source efforts into the enterprise computing
model.
The paper then discusses in detail the design and architecture of the User Services Management System which
implements the middleware solution at NDSU. The three fundamental components discussed will be the User Services
DataBase, LDAP meta-directory services and the User Account Management System .
Discussion of the system architecture will include details of how standard services have been modified to operate under
middleware control.
The paper will conclude with a discussion of the implications of this work. Also included is a discussion of the next
generation of the system architecture.
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