These documents include architectural overviews, functional specifications, general usage information, and technical detail arranged by major service category.

Directory Services

Active Directory Architecture

To use the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server operating system with maximum effectiveness, you must first understand what the Active Directory^TM service is. Active Directory, new in the Windows 2000 operating system, plays a major role in implementing your organization’s network and therefore in accomplishing its business goals. This paper introduces network administrators to Active Directory, explains its architecture, and describes how it interoperates with applications and other directory services.

Active Directory Service Interfaces

Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) allows the integration of multiple directory services through a well defined, open set of interfaces The availability of a standard open directory service administration and programming model for Windows®-based platforms will encourage the inclusion of directory services in a wide range of commercial and customer-developed applications.

Active Directory Display Specifier

This white paper introduces Active Directory^TM Display Specifiers. Display Specifiers are objects that hold Active Directory user interface (UI) information and provide a flexible UI mechanism to meet the needs of the various user groups in the distributed network.

Active Directory Service Interfaces Overview

Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) enable systems administrators and developers of scripts or C/C++ applications to easily query for and manipulate directory service objects.

Active Directory Glossary

Active Directory Users, Computers, and Groups

In the Windows® 2000 operating system, the Active Directory^TM service provides user and computer accounts and distribution and security groups. The operating system integrates user, computer, and group security with the Windows 2000 security subsystem as a whole. This white paper introduces administrators to the way users, computers, and groups are organized and how user authentication and authorization are used to provide security.

Active Directory Interoperability and Metadirectory Overview

Identity is the summary of information about people, applications, and resources scattered in directories and databases throughout most IT enterprises. This paper addresses solution requirements, using Microsoft® Windows® 2000 and the Active Directory^TM service, for dealing with disparate identity information, including the sharing of identity information between different resources, the distribution of identity changes amongst various resources, and ensuring that related data remain consistent throughout the enterprise.

Active Directory Migration Tool Overview

The Active Directory^TM Migration Tool (ADMT) provides an easy, secure, and fast way to migrate from Windows NT® to the Windows® 2000 Server Active Directory service. You can also use ADMT to restructure your Windows 2000 Active Directory domains. This tool can help a system administrator diagnose any possible problems before starting migration operations. The task-based wizards will then allow you to migrate users, groups, and computers; set correct file permissions; and migrate Microsoft Exchange Server mailboxes. The tool's reporting feature allows you to assess the impact of the migration, both before and after move operations.

In many cases, if there is a problem you can use the rollback feature to automatically restore previous structures. The tool also provides support for parallel domains, so you can maintain your existing Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 operating system domains while you deploy the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system.

Communication and Networking

Management

Microsoft Metadirectory Services

Security

Terminal Services

Web and Application Services

Windows Clustering Technologies

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