Special Edition Using Microsoft Active Directory

Introduction to Replication

Intra-site replication is the process by which domain controllers (DCs) within a single site replicate directory information to one another. However, before we get into how intra-site replication works, let's look at the concepts behind replication in Active Directory.

So what exactly is replication? Essentially, it is nothing more than making sure that changes, when you create, modify, or delete a user or any other object in Active Directory, get copied to the domain controllers. (Deletes are handled a little differently, but you will look at that process in more detail later.) Any network of any size must deal with replication. About the only way to not deal with replication is to maintain only one domain controller ...