Active Directory Installation Requirements

Before you install Active Directory, you must ensure that your server and network both meet certain requirements.
The following list identifies the requirements for Active Directory installation:

1. A computer running Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Advanced Server or Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
2. A partition or volume that is formatted with the NTFS file system
3. Adequate disk space for the directory (1 gigabyte [GB] recommended)
4. Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) installed and configured to use Domain Name Service (DNS)
5. A Domain Name Service (DNS) server that supports service (SRV) resource records and the DNS dynamic update protocol
6. Correct system time and time zone settings

Installing Active Directory on a server consumes a very large amount of memory resources. Even if a computer's hardware is adequate to run Windows 2000 Server at a reasonable speed, the computer may slow down to a crawl after you install Active Directory if the hardware meets only the minimum memory requirements.

If you are creating a domain or a domain controller in an existing Windows 2000 network, the wizard will also ask you to obtain the necessary network credentials for creating a domain. There are three such credentials, as shown in this MouseOver:

To implement Active Directory effectively, you also need a plan that defines the network structure that you will create with Active Directory. The implementation plan, usually created by a network architect, should contain the information you need to create the Active Directory forest, including DNS domain names and network basic input/output system (NetBIOS) ^[1] names. The wizard will prompt you for this information.

You will also need to specify locations for the Active Directory database and log files and for your shared system volume. The database stores the directory for the new domain, and the log file temporarily stores changes to the database. The default location is <systemroot>\NTDS (here F:\WINRC2\NTDS). It's best to place the database and log files on separate hard disks.
The shared system volume is a folder structure that is hosted on all domain controllers running Windows 2000. Essentially, it stores files and group policy information that is replicated among domain controllers. You will need to specify a partition or volume that is formatted with the NTFS file system.
Now that you know the overall process and requirements for installing Active Directory, we'll take you through it step by step. The next lesson will teach you how to establish a root domain.

But first, take this quiz to make sure that you know all the network requirements and credentials for installing Active Directory.
Active Directory Installation Requirements - Quiz

[1] NetBIOS: Network Basic Input/Output System; an API used by programs on a local network that provides a uniform set of commands for requesting lower level services.