MIIS Interview Preparation Guide

Microsoft identity integration server (MIIS) is an identity management (IdM) product offered by Microsoft. It is a service that aggregates identity-related information from multiple data-sources. The goal of MIIS is to provide organizations with a unified view of a user's/resources identity across the heterogeneous enterprise and provide methods to automate routine tasks.

Microsoft identity integration server manages information by retrieving identity information from the connected data sources and storing the information in the connector space as connector space objects or CS Entry objects. The CS Entry objects are then mapped to entries in the metaverse called metaverse objects or MV Entry objects. This architecture allows data from dissimilar connected data sources to be mapped to the same MV Entry object. All back-end data is stored in Microsoft SQL Server.

MIIS has its origins in two Canadian companies' products, Linkage Software's meta-directory product Link-Age Directory Exchange (LDE) which Microsoft acquired on June 30, 1997 and Zoom-it Corporation's meta-directory product, Via, which Microsoft acquired on July 7, 1999.
LDE was strongly email system oriented but traces of it and its field mapping technology remain through MIIS 2003.

After acquiring Zoom-it Via Microsoft renamed it to MMS (Microsoft Meta-directory Services) and offered this product for free; however they will strongly encourage customers to hire Microsoft Consulting Services to install and configure product.
Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 was completely re-written from ground up. No original Zoom-it Via code was moved into MIIS. However Microsoft preserved methodology and original idea of the Via product. MIIS 2003 no longer uses Z Script (proprietary scripting language of Zoom-it Via), instead it offered .NET framework support. With this upgrade Microsoft did not offer a migration path from MMS to MIIS due to the significant differences in the products.

Currently Service Pack 2 is available for MIIS 2003.
IIFP is a slimmed-down version of MIIS that is limited to synchronization between AD, ADAM, and exchange data-stores.
MIIS 2003 was recently (Fall 2007) incorporated into a new offering called Identity Life-cycle Manager 2007. This product was announced at the RSA Conference in February 2007 and made available to customers in May 2007. Identity Life-cycle Manager 2007 includes not only the original MIIS 2003 product, but also a component called Certificate Life-cycle Manager (CLM) which is used to manage X.509 digital certificate and smart card issuance.

Product evaluation documentation:
☛ Classic Metadirectory Walkthrough
☛ Simple Account Provisioning Walkthrough
☛ Global Address List Synchronization Walkthrough
☛ Group Creation and Provisioning Walkthrough
☛ Password Management Walkthrough

Example:
Through the metaverse an organization's e-mail system can be linked to its human resources database to the organization's PBX system to any other data repository containing relevant user information. Each employee's attributes from the e-mail system and the human resources database are imported into the connector space through respective 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 will automatically be propagated to the e-mail system.

Versions of microsoft identity integration server:
☛ Zoomit Via (pre 1999)
☛ Microsoft Metadirectory Server [MMS] (1999-2003)
☛ Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Enterprise Edition [MIIS] (Retired)
☛ Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Feature Pack [IIFP] (Retired)
☛ Microsoft Identity Lifecycle Manager Server 2007 ILM (Retired)
☛ Microsoft Forefront Identity Manager 2010 FIM (Current)

The microsoft identity integration server is extensible through the use of the .NET framework, which allows developers and network administrators to extend out of the box capabilities and perform complex tasks.

The goal of the fictional scenario and walkthrough described here is to ensure that all of the directory information maintained in a number of diverse, separate systems is synchronized and that the information is correct. This scenario and walkthrough describes how to build a Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 (MIIS 2003) infrastructure that will make the identity information in these diverse data sources consistent throughout an enterprise.

Before beginning this scenario, become familiar with the basic concepts of MIIS 2003. In This Walkthrough:
☛ Scenario Design
☛ Lab Setup
☛ Implementation Steps
☛ Administering MIIS 2003 Infrastructure

Scenario design describes the fictional company and the specific directory problem you solve in the scenario. This section provides a high-level conceptual and procedural overview of how MIIS 2003 facilitates data flow between connected data sources and Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003.