Windows Server 2003 Active Directory

1. Microsoft Windows Server 2003Active Directory CS526 Semester Project Spring 2006 Patricia C. Marquez pmarquez/Active Directory

2. Introduction • Active Directory is the Windows Server 2003 directory service. • Directory services enable the management of network resource information. • Active Directory uses the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). • LDAP defines the directory access methods and employs the X.500 directory standard. pmarquez/Active Directory

3. Goals • Develop an application to programmatically query and modify the directory data using Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI). • Install Windows Server 2003 • Configure the server as a domain controller • Configure the server as a DNS server • Install Active Directory • Create a Directory Information Tree • Configure a Windows XP client to access the directory via a directory-enabled application. pmarquez/Active Directory

4. Overview of Directory Services • A directory service is a type of service used to manage network resource information such as users, printers, files, applications, and even other services. • The information is stored in a special type of database. The data repository is referred to as a directory because of its hierarchical structure. • The X.500 Standard defines the architecture and features of a directory service. This includes the data model, namespace, functional model, and authentication methods. • Directory data is accessed using the client/server model. • Directory services are ideal for large distributed environments. • Distributed applications can be directory-enabled to access directory data using associated APIs. pmarquez/Active Directory

5. Lightweight Directory Access Protocol • An open industry standard for directory access. • Defines a standard method for querying and updating information in a directory including the transport and format of messages. • Less resource-intensive than DAP because: • It runs directly over TCP/IP instead of requiring the entire OSI protocol stack to operate. • It uses a simplified version of the X.500 directory data model. • LDAP provides APIs for C and Java. pmarquez/Active Directory

6. Active Directory Highlights • The Microsoft Windows Server directory service • Its primary protocol is LDAP • The data model is derived from the X.500 data model • Resources are represented as objects. The database can hold a billion objects • Provides access control and authentication • Supports intersite and intrasite replication • Provides its own API: • Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) pmarquez/Active Directory

7. Physical Architecture pmarquez/Active Directory

8. Windows Server 2003 Security Subsystem pmarquez/Active Directory

9. Logical Architecture • Building blocks include: • Forests • Domains • Organizational Units • Groups • Objects: users, computers, printers, et cetera • Trust relationships • Sites • Replication pmarquez/Active Directory

10. Forest with Domain Trees and Trust Relationship A forest is a logical grouping of domain trees A domain tree is a logical grouping of domains pmarquez/Active Directory

11. Domain with Organizational Unit Tree pmarquez/Active Directory

12. Future Research • Solutions to Active Directory limitations: • No easy way to rearrange the structure of existing forests • No easy way to merge one forest with another to form a single forest • No easy way to split domains off a forest to form a new forest • Research using Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) to access my directory. pmarquez/Active Directory

13. Key References • Kouti, Sakari, and Mika Seitsonen. Inside Active Directory – A System Administrator’s Guide. Addison-Wesley, 2002 • Stanek, William R. Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Inside Out. Microsoft Press, 2004 • Tuttle, Steven, Ami Ehlenberger, Ramakrishna Gorthi, Jay Leiserson, Richard Macbeth, Nathan Owen, Sunil Ranahandola, Michael Storrs, and Chunhui Yang. Understanding LDAP – Design and Implementation. IBM Redbooks, 2004 pmarquez/Active Directory

14. Questions pmarquez/Active Directory