Overview of Active Directory Design Elements

Active Directory is a relatively new technology, yet it is the core of a Windows 2000 network, as Microsoft explains:

"Active Directory is an essential and inseparable part of the Windows 2000 network architecture that improves on the domain architecture of the Windows NT 4.0 operating system to provide a directory service designed for distributed networking environments. Active Directory lets organizations efficiently share and manage information about network resources and users. In addition, Active Directory acts as the central authority for network security, letting the operating system readily verify a user 's identity and control his or her access to network resources. Equally important, Active Directory acts as an integration point for bringing systems together and consolidating management tasks (Microsoft Corporation, 2000)."

For experts to properly implement an Active Directory infrastructure, they must first have an understanding of the Active Directory design elements and, equally important, an understanding of the business for which the Active Directory infrastructure is being designed. The process that occurs in developing an Active Directory infrastructure involves an analysis of the business's current administrative model, goals it wants to achieve, and any future plans. With proper business analysis, an Active Directory infrastructure can meet the needs of the business's current administrative model while easily allowing for future growth and expansion.

Active Directory is implemented as a service that enables network administrators to centrally organize and manage objects such as users, computers, printers, applications, and profiles. This means that locating and managing network resources is now much simpler. Objects stored in Active Directory are accessible to users throughout an organization, and users do not need to know the physical locations of the objects because the objects are logically grouped in a central location. The specific structure of Active Directory can be customized to meet the needs of almost all business environments.

This chapter briefly discusses each of the design elements in the Active Directory infrastructure. A more detailed description of each design element is provided in later chapters. The examples provided throughout the chapter are based on a fictitious corporation named XYZ. XYZ is the main division in the company, with a second division called ABC being recently established. The two divisions each have their own Internet presence and want to remain somewhat independent of one another. The headquarters for XYZ is located in Paris, and the headquarters for ABC is located in New York. In addition, several branch offices exist in various locations.