Introduction

A Microsoft Active Directory network has both a physical and a logical structure. Forests and domains define the logical structure of the network, with domains organized into domain trees in which subdomains (called 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) (which in turn can contain users, groups, computers, and other OUs). Forests are collections of domain trees that have trust relationships with one another, but each domain tree has its own separate namespace.

In this chapter, you will learn all about the functions of forests and domains in the Windows Server 2003 Active Directory infrastructure, and we will walk you through the steps of creating a forest and domain structure for a network. You ll learn to install domain controllers (DCs), create the forest root domain and a child domain, find out 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. We will discuss the role of DNS in the Active Directory environment, and you ll learn about the relationship of the DNS and Active Directory namespaces, how DNS zones are integrated into Active Directory, and how to configure DNS servers for use with Active Directory.