Search operations on distributed directories

The ISO´s X.500 directory service provides agents with information about entities within a distributed environment. The standard identifies information (entry data) to be maintained by the directory as well as information (knowledge) that is used by the directory agents to facilitate cooperative activity, such as searching, updating and manipulating entry data. It does not address the implementation of distributed algorithms for these operations. This paper discusses different types of knowledge and algorithms for distributed search. The knowledge can be categorized into two types: that dealing with network interconnection or topology and that dealing with directory information