2.5 Environment

Because ___domain interactions are distributed among many computers for different, but related purposes, enumerating the dependencies of the Active Directory protocols is complex. The following rough diagram serves as a very high-level illustration of how the dependencies among components can be visualized.

Figure 5:  Dependencies among ___domain components

In this diagram, the dependencies of the system are symmetrical between the ___domain client and the ___domain controller server. Both the ___domain client and the ___domain controller server rely upon infrastructure servers, such as DNS, and leverage those servers for locating each other (rendezvous). During this rendezvous process, the ___domain controller server publishes its name and the ___domain client locates the ___domain controller server through DNS. The details of this rendezvous process are described in section 2.7.7.3.1.

In addition to service ___location, the rendezvous process between a ___domain client and a ___domain controller server relies upon authentication and authorization information. The ___domain controller server, for example, leverages the authorization information that it contains for controlling access to its resources. For more detailed information about authentication and authorization, see [MS-AUTHSOD] and related documents.