Active Directory® for Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 Technical Reference

Designing the Site Topology

All of the design topics discussed so far have dealt primarily with the logical aspects of Active Directory design, with little regard for the actual network topology in the organization. Before you can deploy Active Directory design, you must deal with the issue of site design, which will be directly impacted by the network topology.

Sites and Active Directory Design

In Active Directory, sites are specific organizational entities and are used to manage network traffic. This is done in three primary ways:

• Replication between sites is compressed so replication between sites uses less bandwidth than replication within a site. Further, replication can be scheduled to ensure it occurs when few other demands are being placed ...