Active Directory® for Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 Technical Reference

Active Directory Logical Structure

After you install Active Directory in your network environment and begin to implement the appropriate Active Directory design for your business purposes, you will be working with the logical structure of Active Directory. (This logical structure is the directory services model that defines every security principal in the enterprise as well as the organization of these security principals.) The Active Directory database contains the following structural objects:

• Partitions

• Domains

• Domain trees

• Forests

• Sites

• Organizational units

This section provides an introduction to these components. It will also discuss the concept of trusts, which are used to enable access to resources for security principals that are stored in different ...