Like the hierarchy of folders within folders on your hard drive.

The objects in an Active Directory domain are arranged in a hierarchy, something So, they're called-yes, you guessed it-a forest.) Huge networks might even have more than one tree if In hundreds of locations, all connected by wide-area networking links. Worldwide can all be part of one Active Directory domain, with servers distributed A multinational corporation with tens of thousands of employees in offices Object's attributes specify that person's name, location, telephone number, email address,Īctive Directory lets network administrators maintain an enormous hierarchy ofĬomputers.

Object in the database and attributes (properties) that describe it. Every computer, printer, and person is represented by an Operating system called Windows NT Server can create domains, but it doesn't includeĪfter creating a domain by installing Active Directory on a server computer, networkĪdministrators can set about filling the directory (database) with information about Information about the hardware, software, and people on the network. It's a single, centralized database that stores every scrap of One key offering of these specialized Windows versions is an elaborate applicationĬalled Active Directory. Serve) and they run only on high-octane PCs. These are far moreĮxpensive operating systems (the price depends on the number of machines that they Running either Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 Server. To create a domain, at least one computer must be There are other versions of Windows, however: the specialized ones that run on thoseĭomain-controller computers. Running the two Home editions can't join a domain. As you know, Microsoft sells several versions of Windows 7: Home Basic, Home Premium,

Windows 7 home premium domain