4.4. Managing Multiple Domains

You can easily manage most of the operations that must occur between domains by using the Active Directory Domains And Trusts administrative tool. If, on the other hand, you want to configure settings within a domain, you should use the Active Directory Users And Computers tool. In the following sections, you'll look at ways to perform two common domain management functions with the tools just mentioned: managing single master operations and managing trusts. We'll also look at ways to manage UPN suffixes to simplify user accounts, and we'll examine GC servers in more detail.

4.4.1. Managing Single Master Operations

For the most part, Active Directory functions in what is known as multimaster replication. That is, every domain controller within the environment contains a copy of the Active Directory database that is both readable and writable. This works well for most types of information. For example, if you want to modify the password of a user, you can easily do this on any of the domain controllers within a domain. The change is then automatically propagated to the other domain controllers.