A Brief Refresher on Active Directory
Active Directory was introduced in Windows 2000 to replace the old domain technology in previous server versions. While the earlier domain implementation “worked,” it had many limitations because it was built on the old SAM database used for local account management. These limitations included only a single writable domain controller, no delegation, no understanding of physical locations, no extensibility, and a 40 MB database size limit. As IT advanced and requirements increased, those limitations were impractical.
Active Directory is a true directory service for modern times:
- Is based on the IEEE X.500 Directory Services Implementation, providing a hierarchical structure
- Can be accessed via standard methods, such as LDAP
- Can store information about all aspects of a business, including applications and resources, not just users
- Can be modified to include custom attributes via an extensible schema (though care should be taken!)
- Is...
