Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Security Handbook

Active Directory Reliance

The Active Directory relies on a replication model to get all the nodes with an update of the information in the directory. As you already know (because it is one of the features most publicized), a Windows 2000 network has no primary domain controller or backup domain controller; all are just domain controllers and each one has a read-write copy of the directory. (In the NT model, the PDC had the only read-write copy and the BDC had only a read copy.) With this significant advance in WAN environments, it doesn't matter where you are in the forest because you will be validated and have all the necessary privileges to search the resources available in the network. Also you can update the directory from any domain controller, ...