Mastering Active Directory

Domain controllers

The domain controller is a computer that runs a Windows Server operating system and holds the Active Directory Domain Services role. It can be either a physical server or a virtual server.

Virtualized domain controllers are not always suited for the infrastructures. I have seen some engineers host domain controllers in virtualized environments while the same virtualized environment (cluster) build uses the same domain. If virtualized domain controllers go down with the cluster, authentication will not work either. In such an environment, physical domain controllers are important for a reliable identity infrastructure.

The domain controller holds the directory partition that will be replicated to the other domain controllers ...