Datasheet

4 Chapter 1
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Preparing for the Exchange Installation
Windows Server 2008 introduced Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS).
This is essentially a rebranding of Active Directory to describe the feature
better and to be able to incorporate related products with Active Directory
branding in Windows Server 2008. These products include Active Direc-
tory Certificate Services (AD CS), Active Directory Lightweight Directory
Services (AD LDS), Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS), and
Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS). Since Active
Directory for Exchange Server 2007 works with both Windows Server 2003
and 2008 and the core functionality is the same, this book will generically
refer to it either as Active Directory or AD.
A directory service is the service that manages the directory and makes it available to
users on the network. Active Directory stores information about objects on a Windows
Server network and makes it easy for administrators and users to find and use it. Active
Directory uses a structured data store as the basis for a hierarchical organization of direc-
tory information.
You can use Active Directory to design a directory structure tailored to your organi-
zation’s administrative needs. For example, you can scale Active Directory from a single
computer network all the way to many networks. Active Directory can include every object,
server, and domain in a network.
What makes Active Directory so powerful and so scalable is that it separates the logi-
cal structure of the Windows Server domain hierarchy from the physical structure of the
network.
Logical Components
In Exchange 5.5 Server and prior versions, resources were organized separately in Windows
and in Exchange. Now the organization you set up in Active Directory and the organiza-
tion you set up in Exchange Server 2007 are the same. In Active Directory, the domain
hierarchy is organized using a number of constructs to make administration simpler and
more logical. These logical constructs, which are described in the following sections, allow
you to define and group resources so that they can be located and administered by name
rather than by physical location.
Objects
An object is the basic unit in Active Directory. It is a distinct named set of attributes that
represents something concrete, such as a user, printer, computer, or application. Attributes
are the characteristics of the object; for example, a computer is an object and its attributes
include its name and location. A user is also an object. In Exchange, a user’s attributes
include the user’s first name, last name, and email address. User attributes also include
Exchange-related features, such as whether the object can receive email, the formatting of
email it receives, and the location where it can receive email.