Active Directory Snapshot

Mon, 16 Dec 2013 14:15:11 +0000

Active Directory (AD) is the base of most enterprise level infrastructures and has been for some time. We have become accustomed to seeing this structure and depending on it. But AD has been a thorn in our side since virtualization has become popular due to the inability to take snapshots. This is no longer the case if your shop is running Windows Server 2012 with Active Directory.

With the release of Active Directory 2012, Microsoft has added a new object called the VM GenerationID that allows us to snapshot AD Servers.

Infrastructure Master with Global Catalogs Rundown

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 19:15:14 +0000

It’s a pretty common best practice to not install the Infrastructure Master (FSMO) Role on a Global Catalog Server. This post should help to explain why that is, and the circumstances where you can get away with it.

Global Catalog Review

A Global Catalog contains a full set of attributes for the domain that it’s a member of and a subset of information for all domains in its forest. So basically, what this means is that all of the little attributes that are stored on objects in Active Directory, in the GC’s domain, will be housed on Global Catalog servers. The global Catalog will also have a replica of the objects from other domains in the forest, but only a smaller set of their attributes.

Active-Directory on The IT Hollow

Active Directory Snapshot

Infrastructure Master with Global Catalogs Rundown

Global Catalog Review