Is it possible to explain in as few sentences as possible what the heck is the AD?
Every document on AD I have seen so far falls into two categories. Either it is full of nothingspeak (it increases throughput, enhances administrative functions, best thing since sliced bread) or it is so full of technical terms that makes your eyes bleed.
How could you explain AD to somebody who is more-than-average computer literate, but hasn’t spent two semesters on OS Architectures?
AD is the data store where lots of stuff about your Windows 2000 network is stored. It stores info about users, computers, software, and loads of other things. One way to think of it is as an LDAP directory (it can be accessed with standard LDAP tools) for Win2K. It serves the same purpose as NTLM among other things.
Active Directory is the repository where all information regarding security and information about a Windows 2000/2003 based network is stored. Not hardware information, but any information that has to do with access. If you’re running Microsoft Exchange, your Exchange information is in there. If a company is running DHCP, it has to be authorized by AD. DNS information is in AD. Site locations and replication is all handled by AD.
It handles file and share security, as well as printer access. Basically, it’s a full directory of users, computers, email accounts, domains, and locations. It’s a centralized administration point, which is why people talk about it reducing management.