Enabling Advanced Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Features

Additional Resources
Chapter 5
The Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 Active Directory® directory service enables you to introduce advanced features into your environment by raising the domain or forest functional level. You can raise the functional level when all domain controllers in the domain or forest are running an appropriate version of Windows. Raising the functional level allows you to introduce new features but also limits the versions of Windows that can run on domain controllers in your environment.
In This Chapter
Overview of Enabling Advanced Active Directory Features 206
Preparing to Enable Functional Levels 214
Enabling Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Functional Levels 217
Additional Resources 225
Related Information
For more information about domain and forest functional levels, see the Directory Services Guide of the Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 Resource Kit (or see the Directory Services Guide on the Web at http://www.microsoft.com/reskit).
For more information about enabling functional levels in a new Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 environment, see “Deploying the Windows Server 2003 Forest Root Domain” in this book.
For more information about enabling functional levels after upgrading from Microsoft® Windows NT® 4.0, see “Upgrading Windows NT 4.0 Domains to Windows Server 2003 Active Directory” in this book.
For more information about enabling functional levels after upgrading from Microsoft® Windows® 2000, see “Upgrading Windows 2000 Domains to Windows Server 2003 Domains” in this book.
Overview of Enabling Advanced Active Directory Features
Functional levels in Windows Server 2003 Active Directory enable you to implement advanced features — such as efficient group membership replication, deactivation and redefinition of attributes and classes in the schema, and domain rename — that require that domain controllers within a domain or forest be running the Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003, Standard Edition; Windows® Server 2003, Enterprise Edition; or Windows® Server 2003, Datacenter Edition operating systems. If you want to enable these advanced Windows Server 2003 Active Directory features in your organization, you must raise the domain and/or forest to the appropriate functional level.
Before you can identify and enable the functional level that best meets the needs of your organization, you must identify the Windows operating systems that you are currently running and that you plan to maintain in your environment after you deploy Windows Server 2003.
If you are currently running Windows NT 4.0 and you do not plan to deploy Windows 2000 in your environment, after you deploy the first Windows Server 2003–based domain controller, raise the forest functional level to Windows Server 2003 interim to take advantage of the advanced features available at that forest functional level.
If you are currently running both Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0 in your environment, after you deploy a Windows Server 2003–based domain controller, keep the forest functional level set to Windows 2000. This enables you to take advantage of all advanced features available at that forest functional level.
If you are currently running only Windows 2000 in your environment or you are planning to install any number of Windows 2000–based domain controllers in the future, after you deploy a Windows Server 2003–based domain controller, keep the forest functional level set to Windows 2000. This enables you to take advantage of all advanced features available at that forest functional level.
If you are deploying a new Windows Server 2003 environment and plan to run only Windows Server 2003–based domain controllers, after you deploy the first Windows Server 2003–based domain controller you can raise the forest functional level to Windows Server 2003 to take advantage of all available Windows Server 2003 Active Directory features.
Note
For a list of the job aids that are available to assist you in enabling functional levels, see “Additional Resources” later in this chapter.
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