Active Directory Services is MicrosoftCorporation's trademarked directory service, an integral part of the Windows 2000 architecture. Like other directory services, such as Novell Directory Services (NDS), Active Directory is a centralised and system that automates network management of user data, security, and distributed resources, and enables interoperation with other directories - so long as these directories manages to conform to MicrosoftCorporation's odd and unpublished "standards". Active Directory is designed for distributed networking environments, but in practice in NZ, gets implemented in small/medium business environments where its complexity and dependency on the underlying relatively unstable Windows 2000 OS make it more of a hindrance than a help.

Active Directory features include:

• Support for the X.500 standard for global directories
• The capability for secure extension of network operations to the Web
• A hierarchical organization that provides a single point of access for system administration (management of user accounts, clients, servers, and applications, for example) to reduce redundancy and errors
• An object-oriented storage organization, which allows easier access to information
• Support for the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) to enable inter-directory operability
• Designed to be both backward compatible and forward compatible

<<more later>> -- GreigMcGill