Introduction to AD

Logging on to a Domain
First things first: An object (i.e. computer) must firs join the domain before it can be part of the active directory.

Logging on to a DomainContinuation

Active Directory Objects

Object
Represents network resources such as:
Users Groups Computers Printers

Various attributes are assigned to objects

User Object

Active Directory User and Computers

Active Directory Logical Structure and Components

Logical components:
Domains and Organizational Units Trees and Forests Trusts

Domains and Organizational Units

Domain
Logically structured organization of objects
Part of a network Share common directory database

Has unique name Organized in levels Administered as a unit with common rules and procedures Provides administrative benefits 8

Domains and Organizational Units (continued)

Organizational unit (OU)
Logical container Used to organize objects within a single domain Stores objects such as:
Users Groups Computers Other organizational units

Ability to delegate administrative control over OU 9

Trees and Forests

Reasons for multiple domains:
Geographic separation Different password policies. Large number of objects Replication performance

Forest root domain

First domain defined in deployment

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Trees and Forests (continued)

Tree
Hierarchical collection of domains Share contiguous DNS namespace

Forest
Collection of trees Do not share contiguous DNS naming structure

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Trees

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Forests

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Trusts
Two-way, transitive trust relationship Automatically created for child domain Transitive trust
All other trusted domains implicitly trust one another

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Site Structure

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Global Catalog
Used primarily for:
Finding Active Directory information from anywhere in forest Universal group membership information Authentication services Directory lookup requests from Exchange 2000/2003

First domain controller in Active Directory automatically becomes Global Catalog server
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Summary
Active Directory is the directory service for networks running Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 Server network operating systems Active Directory stores a variety of objects within the directory database The logical components of Active Directory include domains, organizational units, trees, forests, and trusts
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