Physical Structure  «Prev  Next»
Lesson 8

Active Directory Physical Structure Conclusion

The main points of this module include the following:
The physical structure of Active Directory is defined by sites and the placement of domain controllers.
Domain controllers fall into three categories: domain controllers, global catalog servers, and operations masters.
There are five operations masters: the PDC emulator, the schema master, the RID master, the domain naming master, and the infrastructure master. A global catalog server is a repository of information containing a subset of attributes for all Active Directory objects used to locate objects within the directory.

Active Directory Field Guide

New terms

This module introduced you to the following terms:
  1. Active Directory: The Windows 2000 Directory Service which is a database that contains information about all the objects in a Windows 2000 Domain. Objects include: 1) Users, 2) Computers, 3) Group, 4) Printers and other objects on the network. The Active Directory is a hierarchical database, which is in contrast to the Windows NT 4.0 Flat database structure.
  2. Domain: The basic administrative unit in a Windows 2000 network.
  3. Global server catalog: A Windows 2000 computer that holds a copy of the global catalog for the forest.
  4. Global server catalog: A Windows 2000 computer that holds a copy of the global catalog for the forest.
  5. Multi-master replication: Multi-master (or multimaster) replication is a replication model in which any domain controller accepts and replicates changes to any other domain controller. This is different from replication in Windows NT, where one computer stored a single modifiable copy of the directory and other computers stored backup copies.
  6. Subnets: A subnet, or subnetwork, is a network inside a network. Subnets make networks more efficient. Through subnetting, network traffic can travel a shorter distance without passing through unnecessary routers to reach its destination.
You are now ready to apply some of what you have learned about the physical aspects of Active Directory by creating sites, subnets, and the global catalog server.

Review: Creating a Site

Problem:
You want to create a site.
Solution: Using a graphical user interface
  1. Open the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in (dssite.msc).
  2. Right-click on the Sites container and select New Site.
  3. Beside Name, enter the name of the new site.
  4. Under Link Name, select a site link for the site.
  5. Click OK twice.

Using a command-line interface

Create an LDIF file called create_site.ldf with the following contents: 
dn: cn=<SiteName>,cn=sites,cn=configuration,<ForestRootDN>
changetype: add
objectclass: site

dn: cn=Licensing Site Settings,cn=<SiteName>,cn=sites,cn=configuration,
<ForestRootDN>
changetype: add
objectclass: licensingSiteSettings


dn: cn=NTDS Site Settings,cn=<SiteName>,cn=sites,cn=configuration,<ForestRootDN>
changetype: add
objectclass: nTDSSiteSettings
dn: cn=Servers,cn=<SiteName>,cn=sites,cn=configuration,<ForestRootDN>
changetype: add
objectclass: serversContainer

Then run the following command: 
> ldifde -v -i -f create_site.ldf

You also can create a site by issuing the following three AdMod commands: 
> admod -config -rb "cn=<SiteName>,cn=sites" -add objectclass::site
> admod -config -rb "cn=NTDS Site Settings,cn=<SiteName>,cn=sites" -add↵
objectclass::nTDSSiteSettings
> admod -config -rb cn=Servers,cn=<SiteName>,cn=sites" -add↵
objectclass::serversContainer

Active Directory Logon - Quiz

Click the Quiz link below to check your knowledge of the physical structure of Active Directory.
Active Directory Logon- Quiz