What is an Active Directory (AD) used for?

According to SkillPort®, an Active Directory is an organized collection of computers and related devices that enable users to access a server, store data, and perform specific tasks (Skillsoft SkillPort, 2012). Users often have limited or controlled access to a server that is managed in relation to the tasks they perform and applicable privileges.

What are a domain, forest, and namespace?

According to SkillPort (2012) a domain consists of a “collection of computers and devices on a network that is controlled and managed as a unit, through common rules and procedures” (Skillsoft SkillPort, 2012). For example, employees of an organization may only have access to specific directories to perform only the tasks allowed on the domain. Administrators have more privileges because of the responsibilities relating to security and data management. It is important to note that several domains can run simultaneously on one network as well.

A forest is, as explained in the Skillsoft SkillPort (2012) simulation, as a domain or group of domain trees that exist on a network (Skillsoft SkillPort, 2012). A namespace is a unique identifier for each domain that exists within a network using a parent-child relationship. For example, if the parent domain has a namespace of “mydomain.com” then a child domain could have something like: “domain1.mydomain.com” and so on for each computer or device within that domain. SkillPort describes the security level within a domain as being based on administrative and user privileges and whether or not the domain is setup on the network to enable access to the objects store on a basis that should be determined by the organization (Skillsoft SkillPort, 2012).