New Features in Windows Server 2003
Here are the Windows Server 2003 features that have the most dramatic influence on replication:
- Scalable site architectures.
The algorithm used by the Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) to calculate inter-site topology was streamlined. This resolves a problem in Windows 2000 where large organizations with many sites are forced to configure connections manually because the KCC cannot finish its calculations. - Group membership replication.
Linked values, such as group members, now replicate as discrete entities rather than replicating the entire attribute. This resolves a problem in Windows 2000 where updates made to the same group membership during the same replication interval conflict and overwrite each other. - Application naming contexts.
A new type of naming context called an Application naming context that holds application-specific objects. Windows Server 2003 uses this type of naming context to hold DNS zone objects. - Global Catalog rebuilds minimized.
Adding or removing an attribute from the Global Catalog (GC) no longer requires a complete synchronization cycle. This minimizes the replication traffic caused by adding an attribute to the GC. - Schema enhancements.
The ability was added to associate an auxiliary schema class to individual objects rather than to an entire class of objects. This association can be dynamic, making it possible to temporarily assign new attributes to a specific object or objects.