Multimedia: Concepts of Microsoft Windows 2000 Active Directory

This multimedia presentation describes basic Active Directory concepts, including topics such as organizational units (OUs), trees, forests, DNS naming conventions, and sites.

As you view the presentation, try to answer the following questions:

  1. What is the function and purpose of an OU?
  2. Answer

    An OU is a logical container that you use to organize resources. You can use OUs to create a hierarchy that duplicates the structure of an organization or an administrative model.

  3. For what type of network is it useful to have multiple domains?
  4. Answer

    A network of multiple domains is useful for organizations that use a decentralized administrative model. Multiple domains are also useful in multinational organizations that require local administration to be performed in different languages.

  5. If you add a domain named Accounting as a first-level child domain in a tree named wingtiptoys.com, what will the full DNS name of the new domain be?
  6. Answer

    accounting.wingtiptoys.com

  7. In what type of organization is it useful to have a forest?
  8. Answer

    A forest is useful in organizations that need to maintain separate organizational structures, such as a company that needs distinct public identities for its subsidiaries.

  9. What three things do trees in a forest share?
  10. Answer

    Trees in a forest share transitive trusts, a common schema, and a common global catalog.

  11. In what type of organization is it useful to divide a network into sites, and what benefit does this division provide?
  12. Answer

    Sites are beneficial in organizations that have geographically separate locations that are connected by slow links. Sites help reduce Active Directory traffic, such as workstation logon traffic and replication traffic.