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

Chapter 9. Delegating the Administration of Active Directory

As explained in previous chapters, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory no longer maintains the single flat namespace that was used in Microsoft Windows NT domains. Instead, Active Directory directory service provides a hierarchical view of the directory, first through the Domain Name System (DNS) hierarchy of multiple domains and then through the organizational unit (OU) structure within domains. This hierarchy creates an important administrative possibility: the option to delegate administrative permissions. In Windows NT domains, there had been no option to delegate administrative permissions within a domain. The permissions you were given in one part of the domain were ...