Appendix D: Active Directory Basics; Overview; What Is Active Directory; Ads Benefits - Thecus N5500 User Manual

Appendix D: Active Directory Basics

Overview

With Windows 2000, Microsoft introduced Active Directory (ADS), which is a large
database/information store. Prior to Active Directory the Windows OS could not
store additional information in its domain database. Active Directory also solved the
problem of locating resources; which previously relied on Network Neighborhood,
and was slow. Managing users and groups were among other issues Active Directory
solved.

What is Active Directory?

Active Directory was built as a scalable, extensible directory service that was
designed to meet corporate needs. A repository for storing user information,
accounts, passwords, printers, computers, network information and other data,
Microsoft calls Active Directory a "namespace" where names can be resolved.

ADS Benefits

ADS lets the N5500 integrate itself with the existing ADS in an office environment.
This means the N5500 is able to recognize your office users and passwords on the
ADS server. Other major benefits ADS support provides include:
1. Easy integration of the N5500 into the existing office IT infrastructure
The N5500 acts as a member of the ADS. This feature significantly lowers the
overhead of the system administrator. For example, corporate security
policies and user privileges on an ADS server can be enforced automatically
on the N5500.
2. Centralized user/password database
The N5500 does not maintain its own copy of the user/password database.
This avoids data inconsistency between the N5500 and other servers. For
example, without ADS support, an administrator might need to remove a
specific user privilege on the N5500 and each individual server. With ADS
support, the change on an ADS server is known to all of its ADS members.
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