How to Set up Active Directory Sites in Windows Server 2022
Posted on 16th June 2023
Introduction
Active Directory Sites enable you to group computers in your environment according to their physical locations. This enables you to replicate data more efficiently between domain controllers and to manage user authentication and authorization more effectively. In this article, we’ll show you how to set up Active Directory Sites in Windows Server 2022.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, you’ll need to have the following:
- A working Active Directory domain
- Two or more domain controllers in different locations
- Administrator privileges on your domain controllers
Creating an Active Directory Site
To create an Active Directory Site, follow these steps:
- On one of your domain controllers, open the Active Directory Sites and Services tool. You can do this by going to Start > Administrative Tools > Active Directory Sites and Services.
- In the left pane, expand the Sites container.
- Right-click on the Sites container and select New Site.
- In the New Object – Site dialog box, enter a name for your new site.
- In the Location field, enter a description of the location of your new site.
- Click OK.
Your new site will now be created and you can begin adding domain controllers to it.
Adding Domain Controllers to an Active Directory Site
To add a domain controller to an Active Directory Site, follow these steps:
- On the domain controller that you want to add to the site, open the Active Directory Sites and Services tool.
- In the left pane, expand the Sites container.
- Expand the site that you want to add the domain controller to.
- Right-click on the Servers container and select New Server.
- In the New Object – Server dialog box, enter the name of the domain controller that you want to add to the site.
- Click OK.
The domain controller will now be added to the site.
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve shown you how to set up Active Directory Sites in Windows Server 2022. Active Directory Sites enable you to group computers in your environment according to their physical locations. This enables you to replicate data more efficiently between domain controllers and to manage user authentication and authorization more effectively.
When you have Active Directory sites set up, you can control which domain controllers are used for authentication and authorize access to resources. You can also control replication traffic between domain controllers. In this article, we’ll show you how to set up Active Directory sites in Windows Server 2022.
Creating an Active Directory Site
The first step in setting up an Active Directory site is to create a site object in the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) database. To do this, you’ll need to use the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in.
1. To launch the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in, go to Start > Administrative Tools > Active Directory Sites and Services.
2. In the left pane of the snap-in, expand the Sites container.
3. Right-click on the Sites container and select New Site from the context menu.
4. In the New Object – Site dialog box, enter the name of the site in the Site Name field and click OK.
5. In the left pane of the snap-in, you should now see the new site object that you created.
Configuring Active Directory Sites
Now that you have created an Active Directory site, you need to configure it. To do this, you’ll need to use the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in.
1. To launch the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in, go to Start > Administrative Tools > Active Directory Sites and Services.
2. In the left pane of the snap-in, expand the Sites container and then expand the site that you want to configure.
3. Right-click on the site object and select Properties from the context menu.
4. In the Properties dialog box, select the Inter-Site Transports tab.
5. On the Inter-Site Transports tab, you can configure the replication protocols that will be used for replicating data between domain controllers in different sites. By default, both the SMTP and RPC over IP protocols are enabled.
6. If you want to use a different replication protocol, you can select it from the list of available protocols.
7. Once you have selected the replication protocols that you want to use, click OK.
Creating an Active Directory Site Link
Once you have created an Active Directory site, you need to create a site link between it and another site. Site links are used to control replication traffic between sites. To create a site link, you’ll need to use the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in.
1. To launch the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in, go to Start > Administrative Tools > Active Directory Sites and Services.
2. In the left pane of the snap-in, expand the Sites container.
3. Right-click on the Inter-Site Transports container and select New Site Link from the context menu.
4. In the New Object – Site Link dialog box, enter the name of the site link in the Name field.
5. In the Sites to Include list, add the sites that you want to include in the site link.
6. Once you have added the sites that you want to include in the site link, click OK.
7. In the left pane of the snap-in, you should now see the new site link object that you created.
Configuring Active Directory Site Links
Now that you have created a site link, you need to configure it. To do this, you’ll need to use the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in.
1. To launch the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in, go to Start > Administrative Tools > Active Directory Sites and Services.
2. In the left pane of the snap-in, expand the Sites container and then expand the Inter-Site Transports container.
3. Right-click on the site link object that you want to configure and select Properties from the context menu.
4. In the Properties dialog box, select the General tab.
5. On the General tab, you can configure the site link cost. The site link cost is used to determine which site link should be used when replicating data between sites. The site link with the lowest cost will be used.
6. You can also configure the site link transport. The site link transport is used to specify the replication protocol that will be used for replicating data between sites. By default, the SMTP replication protocol is used.
7. Once you have configured the site link, click OK.
Creating an Active Directory Site Connection
Once you have created an Active Directory site and a site link, you need to create a site connection. A site connection is used to specify the replication schedule and replication frequency for replicating data between sites. To create a site connection, you’ll need to use the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in.
1. To launch the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in, go to Start > Administrative Tools > Active Directory Sites and Services.
2. In the left pane of the snap-in, expand the Sites container.
3. Right-click on the site object that you want to create a site connection for and select New Site Connection from the context menu.
4. In the New Object – Site Connection dialog box, enter the name of the site connection in the Name field.
5. In the Connect To drop-down list, select the site that you want to connect to.
6. In the Transport drop-down list, select the replication protocol that you want to use for replicating data between sites. By default, the SMTP replication protocol is used.
7. In the Site Link drop-down list, select the site link that you want to use for replicating data between sites.
8. Once you have configured the site connection, click OK.
9. In the left pane of the snap-in, you should now see the new site connection object that you created.
Configuring Active Directory Site Connections
Now that you have created a site connection, you need to configure it. To do this, you’ll need to use the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in.
1. To launch the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in, go to Start > Administrative Tools > Active Directory Sites and Services.
2. In the left pane of the snap-in, expand the Sites container and then expand the site object that you created the site connection for.
3. Right-click on the site connection object that you want to configure and select Properties from the context menu.
4. In the Properties dialog box, select the General tab.
5. On the General tab, you can configure the replication schedule and replication frequency for replicating data between sites.
6. Once you have configured the site connection, click OK.
