Examining Additional Windows Server 2008 R2 AD DS Improvements

In addition to the changes listed in the preceding sections, AD DS in Windows Server 2008 R2 supports the following features:

. Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC) support—Windows Server 2008 R2 includes the ability to deploy domain controllers with read-only copies of the domain. This is useful for remote branch office scenarios where security might not be tight.

. Group Policy central store—Administrative templates for group policies are stored in the SYSVOL on the PDC emulator in Windows Server 2008 R2, resulting in reduced replication and reduced SYSVOL size.

. DFS-R Replication of the SYSVOL—A Windows Server 2008 RTM/R2 functional domain uses the improved Distributed File System Replication (DFS-R) technology rather than the older, problematic File Replication Service (FRS) to replicate the SYSVOL.

. Active Directory database mounting tool (DSAMain)—The Active Directory database mounting tool (DSAMain.exe) allows administrators to view snapshots of data within an AD DS or AD LDS database. This can be used to compare data within databases, which can be useful when performing AD DS data restores.

. GlobalNames DNS zone—Windows Server 2008 R2 DNS allows for creation of the concept of the GlobalNames DNS zone. This type of DNS zone allows for a global namespace to be spread across multiple subdomains. For example, a client in the asia.companyabc.com subdomain would resolve the DNS name portal.asia.companyabc.com to the same IP address as a client in a different subdomain resolving portal. europe.companyabc.com. This can improve DNS resolution in multizone environments.

Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed