There are two types of replication in an Active Directory environment: Active Directory Replication and FRS Replication. The AD Replication occurs for the following partitions:
- Domain Partition – To all the domain controllers in the same domain
- Configuration Partition – To all the domain controllers in the forest
- Schema Partition – To all the domain controllers in the forest.
- Application Partition (new in Windows Server 2003) – To All DCs in the forest, to all DCs in the domain (Replication scope can be defined).
Any changes you make in the above partitions are replicated to all the domain controllers in the forest depending on the changes made in the partition.
FRS Replication takes place only for the SYSVOL folder.
FRS Notes:
- The FRS replication uses the same connection objects used by the Active Directory Replication.
- FRS Replication within the site occurs immediately.
- FRS Replication between sites occur as per the schedule configured on the site link and connection object.
- FRS Replication behaviour between sites is different. FRS replication is treated as a trigger schedule between the sites. The source partner ignores its schedule and responds to any request by the destination partner. When the schedule closes, the source partner unjoins the connection only after the current contents have been replicated.
- You cannot configure the schedule for the FRS Connection Objects. FRS replication occurs with the AD Replication.
- FRS stores its Subscriber Objects in the AD. FRS cannot replicate if these objects are missing from the AD.
