Michael Reinders

AD site topology is the way Active Directory (AD) models your physical network using sites, subnets, and site links. It helps clients find nearby domain controllers and helps replication follow efficient network paths. But the most common Active Directory performance problems are caused by bad site topology, not AD itself.

Active Directory DNS is used to locate domain controllers and critical services (LDAP, Kerberos, and the Global Catalog) via SRV and host records. If DNS is missing or misconfigured, common outcomes include failed logons, Group Policy errors, and domain controller replication issues. This article explains how and why Active Directory depends on DNS, with practical guidance for production environments. Domain controllers register SRV records for LDAP, Kerberos, and the Global Catalog (GC).

In Active Directory (AD), a domain is the main administrative boundary, a tree is a DNS-based grouping of related domains, and a forest is the top-level security boundary that can contain one or more trees and domains. 🎬 Watch This Week in IT.