Forests, trees, and domains are the logical divisions in an Active Directory network.

★ A domain is defined as a logical group of network objects (computers, users, devices) that share the same active directory database.

★ A tree is a collection of one or more domains and domain trees in a contiguous namespace linked in a transitive trust hierarchy.

★ At the top of the structure is the forest. A forest is a collection of trees that share a common global catalog, directory schema, logical structure, and directory configuration. The forest represents the security boundary within which users, computers, groups, and other objects are accessible.