Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS), yesterday announced a new managed service called Amazon Cloud Directory, which stores hierarchical data that is strongly typed.
Hierarchically organized data can include many types of relationships between data objects, such as device registries, course catalogues, network configurations and file systems. They also include project tasks, language taxonomy and user directories.
Jeff Barr, spokesperson for AWS, stated that such data is usually handled by directory software like Active Directory Lightweight Directory Service (ADLS) or other programs based on the Lightweight Directory Access Protocols (LDAP).
Barr wrote yesterday that a user directory could have a hierarchy based upon physical location (country state, city, building and floor), another based on billing codes and projects, and a third based the management chain. Traditional directory technologies don’t allow multiple relationships to be stored in one directory. You would need to create and maintain additional directories to accomplish this.
Barr stated that traditional directories have struggled with scale and that cloud services like AWS excel at this. Cloud Directory offers the ability to scale to hundreds and millions of objects, while still being cost-effective. It is an ideal fit for all kinds of cloud and mobile apps.
Cloud Directory is a managed service that doesn’t require users install any software or to keep up with patches. Cloud Directory allows users to access the data using a provided API. This requires the creation of directories and schemas that are populated by customer data.
Cloud Directory is now available in many regions around the globe. The pricing rates for Cloud Directory are based on the data stored and the number reads and write to that data.
Barr stated that more work is being done for the service. Barr stated that while priorities can change based on customer feedback, they are still working on cross-region replication and AWS Lambda integration. He also mentioned the ability to create new directories via AWS CloudFormation.