HP CIFS Server 3.0a Administrator's Guide version A.02.01

Primary Domain Controller (PDC) Support
Introduction
Chapter 4 79
make one password change which will affect multiple systems
accessed by that user. Another benefit is that IT administration work
is reduced, since there is no longer a need for individual accounts to
be administered on each system
Primary Domain Controllers
The Primary Domain Controller (PDC) is responsible for several tasks
within the domain. These include:
• Authenticating user logons for users and workstations that are
members of the domain
• Acting as a centralized point for managing user account and group
information for the domain
• A user logged on to the Primary Domain Controller (PDC) as the
domain administrator can add, remove or modify Windows domain
account information on any machine that is part of the domain
Domain Members
• The following member servers are supported:
— Windows NT
— Windows 2000 and Windows 2003
— HP CIFS Server
• Users on a domain member machine can access network resources
within the domain. Some examples of these resources are file and
printer shares and application servers
• Domain members do not perform the user authentication for user
logons. Instead, the member sends the credentials to a domain
controller via a secure channel. The domain controller checks the
credentials against those in its database and returns the results to
the member server. Access is granted based on the results returned