When I configure a Mac to use an external directory system, it's usually our OpenLDAP directory. Using Directory Access.app in the Utilities folder (or the command line equivalent, dsconfigldap), I usually enter that hostname, ldap.stanford.edu. However, there are limitations to this. If the IP address of that specific host changes, things break.
If you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to a feed of all future entries tagged 'OpenLDAP Open_Directory Directory_System Mac Apple DNS_Pool'. [What is this?]