Installing and configuring the Active Directory service in Windows 2003

In Windows 2003, various network services appear as server roles, making it easier for users to allocate and manage network resources. The application Server role manages the network with the Active Directory service, Domain Name System service, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol service, and Windows Internet Naming Service coordination and support. This article will focus on the above activities Directory services to achieve the method and skills.

(i) What is the Active Directory

Active Directory (Active Directory) is a directory service for Windows 2003. It stores information about the various objects on the network and makes that information easy for administrators and users to find and use. The Active Directory service uses structured data storage as the basis for the logical hierarchy of directory information.

The Active Directory has the advantages of information security, policy-based Management, scalability, scalability, replication of information, integration with DNS, interoperability with other directory services, and flexible queries.

Two DNS and Active Directory

Because active directories are integrated with DNS (domain Name system, domain name systems) to share the same name space structure, it is important to note the differences between the two:

1.DNS is a name resolution service

The DNS client sends a DNS name query to the configured DNS server. The DNS server receives name queries and then resolves name queries through locally stored files, or queries other DNS servers for name resolution. DNS does not require an Active Directory to run.

2. The Active Directory is a directory service

The Active Directory provides a repository of information and services that allow users and applications to access information. Active Directory clients send queries to the Active Directory server using the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (lightweight directories access PROTOCOL,LDAP). To locate the Active Directory server, the Active Directory client queries DNS. The Active Directory requires DNS to work.

That is, the Active Directory is used to organize resources, and DNS is used to find resources; only they work together to return information to a user or other procedure that requests similar information. DNS is a critical component of the Active Directory, and if there is no DNS, the Active Directory cannot resolve the user's request to the IP address of the resource, so we must have a deep understanding of DNS before installing and configuring the Active Directory.

(iii) Planning activities directory

Before installing the Active Directory, we first need to carefully plan the structure of the Active Directory to make it easier for users and administrators to use it.

1. Planning DNS

If the user is ready to use the Active Directory, the namespace needs to be planned first. A usable Active Directory structure is required before the DNS domain namespace can be properly executed in Windows 2003. So, start with the Active Directory design and support it with the appropriate DNS namespace.

In Windows 2003, the Active Directory domain is named with the DNS name. When you select a DNS name for the Active Directory domain, the start of the registered DNS domain name suffix used on the Internet, such as microsoft.com, is preserved, and the name and the geographical (departmental) name used in the organization are combined to make up the full name of the Active Directory domain. For example, the sales group in Microsoft might call their domain "sales.microsoft.com." This method of naming ensures that each Active Directory domain name is globally unique. Furthermore, once this naming method is adopted, it becomes very easy to use an existing name as the parent name for creating other subdomains and to further increase the namespace for use by the new Department in the organization.