About ADSI

Active Directory™ Service Interfaces (ADSI) abstracts the capabilities of directory services from different network providers in a distributed computing environment to present a single set of directory service interfaces for managing network resources. Administrators and developers can use ADSI services to enumerate and manage the resources in a directory service, no matter which network environment contains the resource.

ADSI makes it easier to perform common administrative tasks, such as adding new users, managing printers, and locating resources throughout the distributed computing environment.

ADSI makes it easy for developers to "directory enable" their applications. Administrators and developers deal with a single set of directory service interfaces — regardless of which directory services are installed.

The following topics are discussed in this introduction:

• Multiple Directory Services
• Who Will Use Active Directory Service Interfaces?
• Directory Services Today
• Benefits of Using Active Directory Service Interfaces
• Active Directory Service Interfaces Architecture
• Programming Language Support

What You Should Know Before Reading This Guide

This guide assumes that you are familiar with the Component Object Model (COM) and Automation, and that you know how to program in either Visual Basic® or C/C++.

Some of the terms used in this guide are unique to either ADSI or the directory services environment. Other terms will be familiar but may have slightly different meanings in these environments. For a list of ADSI terms and their definitions, please refer to the Glossary.

Further Reading on ADSI and Related Topics

For more information about Active Directory Service Interfaces and the technologies on which they are based, you may find the following sources helpful.

Brockschmidt, Kraig. Inside OLE, 2^nd edition. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 1995.

Chappell, David. Understanding ActiveX and OLE. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 1996.

Hahn, Steven. ADSI ASP Programmer's Reference. Wrox Press Ltd., 1998.

Harrison, Richard. ASP/MTS/ADSI Web Security. Prentice Hall PTR, 1999.

Microsoft's OLE DB Programmer's Reference Version 1.0, 1996.

OLE 2 Programmer's Reference, Volume Two. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 1994.

Rogerson, Dale. Inside COM. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 1997.

The Active Directory Service Design Specification Version 2.0

The Component Object Model Specification