FSMO Roles

FSMO Roles is a tool that will identify Domain Controllers that hold FSMO roles. Domain Controllers have certain roles assigned to them; these roles are called FSMO roles (Flexible Single Master Operations). The FSMO Roles tool provides a GUI interface for identifying which Domain Controllers hold FSMO roles.

The Five FSMO Roles

1. Schema Master – The schema master domain controller controls all updates and modifications to the schema. Once the Schema update is complete, it is replicated from the schema master to all other DCs in the directory.

2. Domain Naming Master – The domain naming master domain controller controls the addition or removal of domains in the forest.

3. Infrastructure Master – The Infrastructure Manager role is responsible for updating references from objects within its domain with objects in other domains.

4. Relative ID (RID) Master – Manages the Security Identifier (SID) for every object within the domain.

5. PDC Emulator – The PDC emulator role provides backwards compatibility for Windows NT backup domain controllers (BDCs)

This was a quick summary of the FSMO roles for complete details see the article Windows 2000 Active Directory FSMO role I know it says Windows 2000 but it provides a good explanation of all the FSMO roles.

Company: Dovestones
Website: http://www.dovestones.com/active-directory/FSMORoles.html