Moreover, Windows 2000 allows customers to move to Active Directory. The new Microsoft directory has several rough edges compared with Novell Directory Services and eDirectory , but Active Directory is a vast improvement over NT 4.0's antiquated domain-based system. Permissions for administration across multiple domains, known as trust relationships, must be established between each domain, creating a very complex web of relationships. There's no simple way to back up all domain information for multiple domains at once. Applications that provide management services typically maintain their own databases, producing a large number of disparate databases that must be kept up to date.
Approved users have to log in only once to gain access to any network resource.
Administrators can be granted rights to ad minister any network object, no matter where it's located. The directory tree exists as a single database that can be backed up and replicated, ensuring that all corporate data is easily protected. Simply put, Active Directory provides a central repository for consolidating network management information. All Rights Reserved. Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. This ZDNet article may be reused when licensed.