Chapter 4 - Working with Forests and Domains

Abstract

It is noted that Microsoft Active Directory (AD) network has both a physical and a logical structure. Forests and domains define the logical structure of the network, with domains essentially organized into domain trees in which sub or child domains can be created under parent domains in a branching structure. Domains are logical units that hold users, groups, computers, and organizational units (OUs). Forests are collections of domain trees that have trust relationships with one another, but each domain tree has its own separate namespace. This chapter describes the functions of forests and domains in the Windows Server 2003 Active Directory infrastructure and illustrates the steps of creating a forest and a domain structure for a network. It explains the installation of domain controllers (DCs), creation of the forest root domain and a child domain. The chapter also explores how to name and rename domains and how to set the functional level of a forest and domain. The Domain Name System (DNS) is an integral part of a Windows Server 2003 network, as it is used for providing name resolution within the network.