Windows 2000 Active Directory data store, the actual database file, is \ntds\NTDS.DIT. The ntds.dit file is the heart of Active Directory including user accounts. Active Directory's database engine is the Extensible Storage Engine ( ESE ) which is based on the Jet database used by Exchange 5.5 and WINS. The ESE has the capability to grow to 16 terabytes which would be large enough for 10 million objects. Back to the real world. Only the Jet database can maniuplate information within the AD datastore.
For information on domain controller configuration to optimize Active Directory, see Optimize Active Directory Disk Performance
The Active Directory ESE database, NTDS.DIT, consists of the following tables:
the types of objects that can be created in the Active Directory, relationships between them, and the optional and mandatory attributes on each type of object. This table is fairly static and much smaller than the data table.
contains linked attributes, which contain values referring to other objects in the Active Directory. Take the MemberOf attribute on a user object. That attribute contains values that reference groups to which the user belongs. This is also far smaller than the data table.
users, groups, application-specific data, and any other data stored in the Active Directory. The data table can be thought of as having rows where each row represents an instance of an object such as a user, and columns where each column represents an attribute in the schema such as GivenName.
From a different perspective, Active Directory has three types of data
definitional details about objects and attributes that one CAN store in the AD. Replicates to all domain controllers. Static in nature.
configuration data about forest and trees. Replicates to all domain controllers. Static as your forest is.
object information for a domain. Replicates to all domain controllers within a domain. The object portion becomes part of Global Catalog. The attribute values (the actual bulk of data) only replicates within the domain.
Although GUIDs are unique, they are large. AD uses distinguished name tag ( DNT ). DNT is a 4-byte DWORD value which is incremented when a new object is created in the store. The DNT represents the object's database row number. It is an example of a fixed column. Each object's parent relationship is stored as a parent distinguished name tag ( PDNT ). Resolution of parent-child relationships is optimized because the DNT and PDNT are indexed fields in the database. For more technical info on the AD datastore and its organization, a good starting point is the Active Directory Database Sizing document.
The size of ntds.dit will often be different sizes across the domain controllers in a domain. Remember that Active Directory is a multi-master independent model where updates are occuring in each of the ADs with the changes being replicated over time to the other domain controllers. The changed data is replicated between domain controllers, not the database, so there is no guarantee that the files are going to be the same size across all domain controllers.
Active Directory routinely performs online database defragmentation, but this is limited to the disposal of tombstoned objects. The database file cannot be compacted while Active Directory is mounted. An ntds.dit file that has been defragmented offline ( compacted ), can be much smaller than the ntds.dit file on its peers. To defrag ntds.dit offline:
compact to "c:\my new folder"
This is a server by server task. Monitor the size of ntds.dit and if it starts growing and performance is slow and you can not see why either situation should apply, consider offline defrags.
If ntds.dit gets corrupted or deleted or is missing ( can happen if the promotion process to domain controller goes bad ), you have to manually recover it using Windows 2000 Backup. Now you did do W2K backups right?:
To move a database or log file :
where %s is the drive and folder where you want the database moved.
where %s is the drive and folder where you want the log files moved.
When you move the database and log files, you must back up the domain controller.
NTDS.DIT
Ntds.dit
ntdis.dit
Windows 2000 Active Directory data store, the actual database file, is %SystemRoot%\ntds\NTDS.DIT
Active Directory
the centralized directory database in the domain model is NTDS.DIT(directory information tree) but for the local sstem not connected to domain is SAM
In Windows Server 2011 it is called Active Directory.
millions
, the server hosting the replica of Active Directory database is called Domain Controller. In it's database is all information about all objects, that exist in particular Active Directory domain.
Active Directory
Active Directory
Active Directory's database engine is the Extensible Storage Engine ( ESE )