Service advertising protocol (SAP)

Querying the bindery or directory services

Clients can also query a NetWare server's object database which contains definitions for entities such as file servers, print servers, or any other entity that has been given a name.

For NetWare 4.x servers, that database is the Directory. For NetWare 3.x servers, it is the Bindery. Directory Services maintains backward compatibility via bindery emulation mode.

Using the NetWare Bindery or Directory can be likened to using the white pages in the telephone directory. This provides faster access to information about a particular server than the SAP agent.

Depending upon the type of query, one of the following is returned:

The name and address of a particular server
The names and addresses of all servers of a particular type

Actually, it is the interaction between SAP agents and the NetWare server's object database that keeps the latter up to date. When a NetWare server is initialized, it queries the memory copy of the Server Information Table to keep the object database updated.