Special Edition Using Microsoft Active Directory

Database Maintenance

The Active Directory database automatically performs most of the maintenance necessary for proper operation. Old transaction logs are deleted every 12 hours; the transaction logs and database are compared and recovered every time Active Directory starts; and the database is defragmented automatically. However, inevitably, you will at times need to care directly for the database files.

Defragmentation

A database that experiences any amount of write operations, including deletions, will at some time or another become fragmented. This can have an ill effect on performance. To resolve this issue, Microsoft has implemented a defragmentation process for the directory database.

You must familiarize yourself with two types of defragmenting ...