Windows® 2000 Active Directory™

When to Use Multiple Forests

The decision to use multiple Forests in the design of an Active Directory hierarchy is one that should not be made lightly. Multiple Forest environments are possible to set up. However, they can be difficult and costly to administer. In most single organization environments, a multi-Forest Active Directory design provides no additional business value over a single Forest with multiple domain trees.

Why would an organization be required to implement a multiple Forest environment? The usual scenario is one in which one organization acquires another organization, and both organizations already have Active Directory implemented in a single tree configuration. There is no consensus or no business justification for ...