The Microsoft Exchange Server directory contains information about mailboxes, distribution lists, servers, processes, and applications. It provides a unified, structured view of all users and resources within the Microsoft Exchange Server system. For more information about the structure and characteristics of the directory, see About the Directory.
The directory schema is the description of all the object classes and objects within a directory together with with their attributes and inheritance structure. For more information, see About the Directory Schema.
For information on the security model used in the Microsoft Exchange Server directory, see About Directory Security.
The Microsoft Exchange Server directory can share its object addressing and configuration information with other mail systems. Several methods are available to transfer directory information between Microsoft Exchange Server organizations and foreign systems. For more information, see Sharing Directory Information.