Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service Overview

Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service (FIM Synchronization Service) is a component of Forefront Identity Manager (FIM). It is a centralized service that stores and integrates information for organizations that have multiple directories. The goal of FIM Synchronization Service is to provide organizations with a unified view of all known identity information about users, applications, and network resources.

The following illustration shows how FIM Synchronization Service is organized.

FIM Synchronization Service manages information by receiving identity information from the connected data sources and storing the information in the connector space as connector space objects or CSEntry objects. The CSEntry objects are then mapped to entries in the metaverse, called metaverse objects, or MVEntry objects. Using this process, you can map data from separate connected data sources to the same MVEntry object.

For example, an organization can link its e-mail system to its human resources database through the metaverse. Each employee's attributes from the e-mail system and the human resources database are imported into the connector space through management agents. The e-mail system can then link to individual attributes from the employee entry, such as the employee telephone number. If an employee's telephone number changes, the new telephone number is automatically propagated to the e-mail system.

For more information about FIM Synchronization Service, including information about how to install and configure the server, see the Forefront Identity Manager 2010 documentation on Microsoft TechNet.

See Also

Concepts

Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service Developer Reference

Other Resources

Forefront Identity Manager 2010 Developer Reference