What is Active Directory and Where it is Stored?

What is Active Directory?

Active Directory is a directory service used to store information about the network resources across a domain. An Active Directory (AD) structure is a hierarchical framework of objects. The objects fall into three broad categories – resources (e.g. printers , services (e.g. e-mail ), and users (accounts, or users and groups). The AD provides information on the objects, organizes the objects, controls access, and sets security.

What is the file name of Active directory and where is it stored?

File name : NTDS.DIT
Location : %SystemRoot%\ntds