IgNiTeD SoUL

Intersite replication takes place between sites. Intersite replication can utilize either RPC over IP or SMTP to convey replication data. This type of replication has to be manually configured. Intersite replication occurs between two domain controllers that are called bridgeheads or bridgehead servers. The role of a bridgehead server (BS) is assigned to at least one domain controller in a site. A BS in one site deals with replicating changes with other BSs in different sites. You can configure multiple bridgehead servers in a site. It is only these BSs that replicate data with domain controllers in different domains by performing intersite replication with its BS partners. With intersite replication, packets are compressed to save bandwidth. This places additional CPU load on domain controllers assigned the BS role. BSs should therefore be machines that have enough speed and processors to perform replication. Intersite replication takes place over site links by a polling method which is every 180 minutes by default.

ADSIEdit is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that acts as a low-level editor for Active Directory. It is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) tool. Network administrators can use it for common administrative tasks such as adding, deleting, and moving objects with a directory service. The attributes for each object can be edited or deleted by using this tool. ADSIEdit uses the ADSI application programming interfaces (APIs) to access Active Directory. The following are the required files for using this tool:

ADSIEDIT.DLL

ADSIEDIT.MSC

Regarding system requirements, a connection to an Active Directory environment and Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is necessary.

The tombstone lifetime is determined by the value of the tombstone Lifetime attribute on the Directory Service object in the configuration directory partition.

Administrative Credentials

To complete this procedure, you must be a member of the Domain Users group.

To determine the tombstone lifetime for the forest

1.            On the Start menu, click Run, type adsiedit.msc, and then click OK.

2.            In the console tree, double-click Configuration [DomainControllerName], CN=Configuration,DC=[ForestRootDomain], CN=Services, and CN=Windows NT.

3.            Right-click CN=Directory Service, and then click Properties.

4.            In the Attribute column, click tombstoneLifetime.

5.            Note the value in the Value column. If the value is <not set>, the default value is in effect as follows:

•             On a domain controller in a forest that was created on a domain controller running Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1), the default value is 180 days.

•             On a domain controller in a forest that was created on a domain controller running Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003, the default value is 60 days.

The Active Directory support files are listed below. These are the files that you specify a location for when you promote a server to a domain controller:

• Ntds.dit (NT Directory Services): Ntds.dit is the core Active Directory database. This file on a domain controller lists the naming contexts hosted by that particular domain controller.
• Edb.log: The Edb.log file is a transaction log. When changes occur to Active Directory objects, the changes are initially saved to the transaction log before they are written to the Active Directory database.
• Edbxxxxx.log: This is auxiliary transaction logs that can be used in cases where the primary Edb.log file fills up prior to it being written to the Ntds.dit Active Directory database.
• Edb.chk: Edb.chk is a checkpoint file that is used by the transaction logging process.
• Res log files: These are reserve log files whose space is used if insufficient space exists to create the Edbxxxxx.log file.
• Temp.edb: Temp.edb contains information on the transactions that are being processed.

Schema.ini: The Schema.ini file is used to initialize the Ntds.dit Active Directory database when a domain controller is promoted.