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Chapter 9

Introducing Active Directory Directory Services

You use a directory service to uniquely identify users and resources on a network. Directory services based on Active Directory technology in Microsoft Windows 2000 is a significant enhancement over the directory services provided in previous versions of Windows. Active Directory directory services provide a single point of network management, allowing you to add, remove, and relocate users and resources easily. This chapter introduces you to Active Directory directory services, a feature available with the Windows 2000 Server products.

NOTE

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Active Directory directory services are not available in Windows 2000 Professional. You must have a computer running one of the Windows 2000 Server products configured as a domain controller to use Microsoft's Active Directory directory services.

Before You Begin

To complete this chapter, you must have

• A computer that meets the minimum hardware requirements listed in "Hardware Requirements."
• Windows 2000 Professional installed on the computer.