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Windows 2000 Single-Master Model

The document discusses the Windows 2000 single-master model for Active Directory, which uses Flexible Single Master Operations (FSMO) roles to allow only one domain controller (DC) at a time to process updates for certain objects. It describes the five FSMO roles - Schema Master, Domain Naming Master, RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure FSMO role - and their responsibilities for managing the directory schema, domain name space, RIDs, time synchronization, and cross-domain object references, respectively.

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45 views3 pages

Windows 2000 Single-Master Model

The document discusses the Windows 2000 single-master model for Active Directory, which uses Flexible Single Master Operations (FSMO) roles to allow only one domain controller (DC) at a time to process updates for certain objects. It describes the five FSMO roles - Schema Master, Domain Naming Master, RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure FSMO role - and their responsibilities for managing the directory schema, domain name space, RIDs, time synchronization, and cross-domain object references, respectively.

Uploaded by

tarung_9
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Windows 2000 Single-Master Model

To prevent conflicting updates in Windows 2000, the Active Directory performs updates to certain
objects in a single-master fashion. In a single-master model, only one DC in the entire directory is allowed
to process updates. This is similar to the role given to a primary domain controller (PDC) in earlier versions
of Windows (such as Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0), in which the PDC is responsible for processing
all updates in a given domain.

The Windows 2000 Active Directory extends the single-master model found in earlier versions of Windows
to include multiple roles, and the ability to transfer roles to any domain controller (DC) in the enterprise.
Because an Active Directory role is not bound to a single DC, it is referred to as a Flexible Single Master
Operation (FSMO) role. Currently in Windows 2000 there are five FSMO roles:

 Schema master
 Domain naming master
 RID master
 PDC emulator
 Infrastructure daemon

Schema Master FSMO Role


The schema master FSMO role holder is the DC responsible for performing updates to the directory
schema (that is, the schema naming context or LDAP://cn=schema,cn=configuration,dc=<domain>). This
DC is the only one that can process updates to the directory schema. Once the Schema update is
complete, it is replicated from the schema master to all other DCs in the directory. There is only one
schema master per directory.

Domain Naming Master FSMO Role


The domain naming master FSMO role holder is the DC responsible for making changes to the forest-
wide domain name space of the directory (that is, the Partitions\Configuration naming context or
LDAP://CN=Partitions, CN=Configuration, DC=<domain>). This DC is the only one that can add or
remove a domain from the directory. It can also add or remove cross references to domains in external
directories.

RID Master FSMO Role


The RID master FSMO role holder is the single DC responsible for processing RID Pool requests from
all DCs within a given domain. It is also responsible for removing an object from its domain and putting it
in another domain during an object move.

When a DC creates a security principal object such as a user or group, it attaches a unique Security ID
(SID) to the object. This SID consists of a domain SID (the same for all SIDs created in a domain), and a
relative ID (RID) that is unique for each security principal SID created in a domain.
Each Windows 2000 DC in a domain is allocated a pool of RIDs that it is allowed to assign to the security
principals it creates. When a DC's allocated RID pool falls below a threshold, that DC issues a request for
additional RIDs to the domain's RID master. The domain RID master responds to the request by retrieving
RIDs from the domain's unallocated RID pool and assigns them to the pool of the requesting DC. There is
one RID master per domain in a directory.

PDC Emulator FSMO Role


The PDC emulator is necessary to synchronize time in an enterprise. Windows 2000 includes the
W32Time (Windows Time) time service that is required by the Kerberos authentication protocol. All
Windows 2000-based computers within an enterprise use a common time. The purpose of the time
service is to ensure that the Windows Time service uses a hierarchical relationship that controls authority
and does not permit loops to ensure appropriate common time usage.

The PDC emulator of a domain is authoritative for the domain. The PDC emulator at the root of the forest
becomes authoritative for the enterprise, and should be configured to gather the time from an external
source. All PDC FSMO role holders follow the hierarchy of domains in the selection of their in-bound time
partner.

In a Windows 2000 domain, the PDC emulator role holder retains the following functions:
 Password changes performed by other DCs in the domain are replicated preferentially to the
PDC emulator.
 Authentication failures that occur at a given DC in a domain because of an incorrect
password are forwarded to the PDC emulator before a bad password failure message is
reported to the user.
 Account lockout is processed on the PDC emulator.
 The PDC emulator performs all of the functionality that a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server-
based PDC or earlier PDC performs for Windows NT 4.0-based or earlier clients.
This part of the PDC emulator role becomes unnecessary when all workstations, member servers, and
domain controllers that are running Windows NT 4.0 or earlier are all upgraded to Windows 2000. The
PDC emulator still performs the other functions as described in a Windows 2000 environment.

The following information describes the changes that occur during the upgrade process:
 Windows 2000 clients (workstations and member servers) and down-level clients that have
installed the distributed services client package do not perform directory writes (such as
password changes) preferentially at the DC that has advertised itself as the PDC; they use
any DC for the domain.
 Once backup domain controllers (BDCs) in down-level domains are upgraded to Windows
2000, the PDC emulator receives no down-level replica requests.
 Windows 2000 clients (workstations and member servers) and down-level clients that have
installed the distributed services client package use the Active Directory to locate network
resources. They do not require the Windows NT Browser service.

Infrastructure FSMO Role


When an object in one domain is referenced by another object in another domain, it represents the

reference by the GUID, the SID (for references to security principals), and the DN of the object being
referenced. The infrastructure FSMO role holder is the DC responsible for updating an object's SID and
distinguished name in a cross-domain object reference.

NOTE: The Infrastructure Master (IM) role should be held by a domain controller that is not a Global
Catalog server(GC). If the Infrastructure Master runs on a Global Catalog server it will stop updating object
information because it does not contain any references to objects that it does not hold. This is because a
Global Catalog server holds a partial replica of every object in the forest. As a result, cross-domain object
references in that domain will not be updated and a warning to that effect will be logged on that DC's
event log.

If all the domain controllers in a domain also host the global catalog, all the domain controllers have the
current data, and it is not important which domain controller holds the infrastructure master role.

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