Comparison of Active Directory and Windows NT

Comparison of Active Directory and Windows NT

It is at this juncture (when centralized computing and resource management was a demand that grew imperative every day) that Microsoft came up with Windows NT, which simplified and enhanced the domain-centric approach to resource management in its directory service. Soon, Microsoft enhanced NT further and introduced Active Directory, which provided everything expected of a multipurpose directory service including:

  • User and Resource management
  • Security Services
  • Centralized directory management
  • Directory enabled infrastructure
  • Directory enabled applications

To function as a multipurpose directory service, there are some core requirements that must be met. The requirements include scalability, management of active directory objects, simple and flexible security. By comparing Windows NT with Active Directory, we will be able to understand how Active Directory succeeds in functioning as a multipurpose directory service and the extent of enhancement it has upon its predecessor.

FeaturesWindows NTActive Directory
ScalabilityMaximum database size is 40 MB with a maximum of 40,000 users.Maximum database size is 16 TB with millions of objects per forest.
Schema ExtensibilityDoes not support the addition of new objectsSchema is fully extensible
Access methodologiesSupports Microsoft APISupports LDAP based access to objects. LDAP is the standard protocol used by directories.
ReplicationSingle master replicationMultimaster replication across the domain controllers
AdministrationPer-domain basisAdministration boundaries can vary from the entire forest level to individual attribute level of an object
Name ResolutionNetBIOS is usedDNS is used
Trust relationshipSimple trust relationship.Transitive trust relationship.
Eg. If domain A trusts Domain B and if Domain B trusts Domain C, there is no automatic trust created between Domains A and CEg. If domain A trusts Domain B and if Domain B trusts Domain C, there is automatic trust created between Domains A and C

Most importantly, the growth of Active Directory over Windows NT is obvious because of its capability to satisfy the requirements to function as a multipurpose directory service.

    • Related Articles

    • Transitioning your Active Directory to Windows Server 2008 R2

      Transitioning AD to Windows Server 2008 R2  Introduction  Active Directory (AD), a service provided by Microsoft, functions as a central database for securely storing and managing information about user accounts, user groups, applications, and other ...

    • How to check Active Directory Replication - Explained

      How to Check Active Directory Replication Active Directory replication is a feature that allows the Domain Controllers to share and update the directory data across the forest. This ensures that any change made on a domain controller is propagated to ...

    • How to Find and Delete Inactive User Accounts in Windows Active Directory

      Finding and Deleting Obselete User Accounts Stale user accounts in Active Directory are a significant security risk since they could be used by an attacker or a former employee to wreak havoc in your Windows environment. In addition to the security ...

    • Enable Active Directory Recycle Bin | PowerShell

      What is Active Directory Recycle Bin? While using Active Directory (AD), administrators tend to accidentally delete objects such as users, computers, groups or organizational units (OUs). This may cause complications in the network functionality and ...

    • Active Directory Objects List

      Objects are the fulcrum of Active Directory. The ease of an organization’s resource management comes from the fact that objects give AD a modular structure. Introduction The individual components of an organization’s network are called objects in ...