Abstract: A network server architecture that provides network integration and control functions is disclosed. The architecture includes a virtual directory server (VDS) and an identity provider. The VDS provides an interface for access of external user stores, external business rules and external service discovery configurations. The identity provider allows for a client interface for transfer of that information to the client. A rules engine and a service discovery provider configuration module are integrated into the VDS. The rules engine processes the external business rules that have been retrieved. The service discovery control module allows for retrieval of external definitions and information about the users stores that the VDS supports and update of the service discovery control module, even while the architecture is online. The service discovery control module is in a UDDI format, although other formats could be used.