Active Directory Explained

Sites in Active Directory represent the actual physical structure, or topology, of your network. Active Directory uses network topology information, stored as site and site link objects in the directory, to build the most efficient replication network infrastructure. You use Active Directory Sites and Services to define sites and site links. What is a site? A site is a set of well-connected subnets. Sites differ from domains; sites represent the physical structure of your network, while domains represent the logical structure of your organization.

USING SITES
Sites help you facilitate several activities within Active Directory, including:
•Replication. Active Directory balances the need for up-to-date directory information with the need for bandwidth optimization by replicating information within a site on a frequent basis. This operation saves bandwidth between sites. You can configure the relative cost of connectivity between sites to further optimize the need for replication.
•Authentication. Site information helps make authentication faster and much more efficient. When a client logs on to a domain, it first searches its local site for a domain controller to authenticate against. By establishing multiple sites, you can ensure that clients authenticate against domain controllers nearest to their work station, reducing authentication latency and keeping traffic off WAN connections.
•Active Directory-enabled services. Active Directory-enabled services will leverage site and subnet information to enable clients to locate the nearest server providers much easier.
In Active Directory, a site is a set of computers well-connected by a high-speed network, such as a local area network (LAN). All computers within the same site typically reside in the same building, or on the same campus network. A single site consists of one or more Internet Protocol (IP) subnets. Subnets are subdivisions of an IP network, with each subnet possessing its own unique network address. A subnet address groups neighboring computers in much the same way that postal codes group neighboring postal addresses. Several clients are contained within a typical subnet
Sites and subnets are represented in Active Directory by site and subnet objects, which you create through Active Directory Sites and Services. Each site object is associated with one or more subnet objects.

ASSIGNING INDIVIDUAL COMPUTERS TO SITES
Computers are assigned to sites based on their Internet Protocol (IP) address and subnet mask. Site assignment is handled differently for clients and member servers than for domain controllers. For a client, site assignment is dynamically determined by its IP address and subnet mask during logon. For a domain controller, site membership is determined by the location of its associated server object in Active Directory.
Understanding sites and domains
In Active Directory, sites map the physical structure of your network, while domains map the logical or administrative structure of your organization. This separation of physical and logical structure provides the following benefits:
• You can design and maintain the logical and physical structures of your network independently.
• You do not have to base domain namespaces on your physical network.
• You can deploy domain controllers for multiple domains within the same site. You can also deploy domain controllers for the same domain in multiple sites.


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