Each object type in the Active Directory stores different information.

• User objects have a name, password, phone number, etc.
• Groups have a list of members
• Printers have a name, driver, port, etc.
• Shared Folders have a path

The individual pieces of information are known as attributes. All object types and attributes for the Active Directory are defined in its schema. When an object is created in the directory, the directory's ESE Extensible Storage Engine allocates space only for the attributes that have data. The schema contains a default DACL that is copied to newly created objects.

Schema		instantiate	Directory
	Object class	create â		Object instance
—	Attribute syntax		—	Attribute syntax
—	Attribute syntax		—	Attribute syntax
—	Attribute syntax		—	Attribute syntax
	Default DACL			DACL

Keyboard Exercise

Run regsvr32 schmmgmt and then snap-in the Active Directory Schema console into MMC.