Kerberos is a secure authentication and single sign-on protocol that uses secret key cryptography. LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is an open cross-platform protocol used for accessing directories (such as Active Directory) which also has access to directory services authentication by using user name and password. The Ntds.dit file is used to store the AD database.Īctive Directory uses LDAP and Kerberos protocols for its function over the network.
The Active Directory database has a hierarchical tree-like structure. The database is divided into several sections that contain different types of information – a schema partition (which determines the AD database design including object classes and their attributes), configuration partition (information about AD structure) and domain names context (users, groups, printer objects). DISCOVER SOLUTION Active Directory Working PrincipleĪctive Directory is a management system that consists of a database where the individual objects and transaction logs are stored.