Question

Could anybody please let me know under which cases LDAP would be prefered rather than using a Database ??

Thanks .

Answer 1

Direct excerpt: Do a few searches this was pretty easy to find…

When should you use LDAP to store your data?

Most LDAP servers are heavily optimized for read-intensive operations. Because of this, one can typically see an order of magnitude difference when reading data from an LDAP directory versus obtaining the same data from a relational database server optimized for OLTP. Because of this optimization, however, most LDAP directories are not well suited for storing data where changes are frequent. For instance, an LDAP directory server is great for storing your company’s internal telephone directory, but don’t even think of using it as a database back end for your high-volume e-commerce site.

If the answer to each of the following questions is Yes, then storing your data in LDAP is a good idea.

Would you like your data to be available cross-platform?
Do you need to access this data from a number of computers or applications?
Do the individual records you’re storing change a few times a day or less, on average?
Does it make sense to store this type of data in a flat database instead of a relational database? That is, could you effectively store all the data for a given item in a single record?
This final question often gives people pause, because it’s very common to access a flat record to obtain data that’s relational in nature. For example, a record for a company employee might include the login name of that employee’s manager. It’s fine to use LDAP to store this kind of information. Rule of thumb: If you can imagine storing your data in a large electronic Rolodex, you can store it easily in an LDAP directory.