User guide

Glossary 259
Like domain mode, after a functional level has been elevated to a higher status, it cannot be changed
back.
global catalog
Contains a partial replica of every object in every domain in the forest. The GC enables users and
application to find objects in the active directory forest given one or more attributes of the target object. It
also contains the schema and configuration of Directory partitions. This means the GC holds a replica of
every object in the active directory, but with only a small number of attributes. The attributes in the GC are
those most frequently used in search operations (such as a user's first and last names, log on names, and
so on). The GC enables users to find objects of interest quickly without knowing what domain holds them
and without requiring a contiguous extended name space in the enterprise. The GC is built automatically
by the active directory replication system. Attributes can be easily added to the GC content by active
directory administrators.
interim functional level
A Windows Server™ 2003 configuration of active directory that allows it to coexist in a domain that
includes one or more Windows NT® 4.0 BDCs. See also functional levels.
LDAP Display Name
The name by which LDAP clients identify a specific attribute in an abject. The LDAP Display Name is also
an attribute in its own right and is a mandatory item in each active directory object. The LDAP Display
Name for an attribute contains no spaces or hyphens and the first letter is always lowercase while each
distinct word in the name begins with a capital letter (for example, sAMAccountName, givenName, cn,
sn). The lDAPDisplayName attribute value for each object is normally made by capitalizing the first letter
of each word in the Common Name, then removing the hyphens and concatenating all the words
together (and making the first letter lowercase). See also attribute.
LDAP-enabled directory service
A distributed network directory service that has native support for LDAP.
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
A protocol used to access a directory service such as active directory that has been enabled to
understand the protocol. LDAP is a simplified version of the DAP developed as part of the X.500
international standard for directory services. While LDAP is certainly a computer communication protocol,
the term "LDAP" is frequently used to denote more than just the protocol standard: it is inextricably tied to
a default schema for the active directory database and other essential aspects of interoperability.
Mixed Domain Mode
For Windows® 2000, Mixed Domain Mode refers to a configuration of active directory that allows it to
coexist in a domain that includes one or more Windows NT® 4.0 BDCs. In Mixed Mode the domain
features from previous versions of Windows NT® server are still enabled, while some Windows® 2000
features are disabled. Active directory domains are installed in mixed mode by default. Nested global
groups are not supported in a Mixed Mode Domain. In Mixed Mode, the active directory Domain
Controller emulates the behavior of a pre-Windows® 2000 PDC when interacting with the BDCs of that
domain. See also Native Domain Mode and functional levels.
NOTE: Within a multi-domain forest, running a particular domain controller in Mixed Domain Mode has no
bearing in any way on any other domain. It does not matter if it is the root domain or a descendant domain,
because the mode only impacts the ability of that domain to replicate data to older Windows NT® servers