Follow these guidelines when assigning operations master Windows 7 certificate roles for a domain:
If a domain has only one domain controller, that domain controller must hold all of the domain roles.
If a domain has more than one domain controller a Choose two
well-connected domain controllers that are direct replication partners.
Make one of the domain controllers the operations master domain
controller, to which you should assign the RID master, the PDC emulator,
and the infrastructure master roles. The other domain controller
functions as a standby operations master domain controller, used in case
of failure of the operations master domain controller.
In domains that are not large, assign both the RID master and PDC
emulator roles to the domain controller you selected as the operations
master domain controller.
In very large domains, you can reduce the peak load on the PDC emulator
by placing RID master and PDC emulator roles on separate domain
controllers, both of which are direct replication partners of the domain
controller you selected as the standby operations master domain
controller. However, to avoid the administrative tasks associated with
separating the two roles, you should keep online MCITP certification
the two roles together unless the load on the domain controller you
selected as the operations master domain controller justifies separating
the roles.
a The infrastructure master role should not be assigned to any domain
controller that is hosting the global catalog. However, you should
assign the infrastructure master role to any domain controller that is
well connected to a global catalog (from any domain) in the same site.
If the domain controller you selected as the operations master domain
controller meets these requirements, use it unless the load justifies
the extra management burden of separating the roles. If the
infrastructure master and global catalog are on the same domain
controller, the infrastructure master will not function. The
infrastructure master will never find data that is out of date, so it
will never replicate any changes to the other domain controllers in the
domain. If all of the domain controllers in a domain are also hosting
the global catalog, all of the domain controllers have the current data
and it does not matter which domain controller holds the infrastructure
master role.
Planning for Growth
Normally, as your forest grows, you will not need to change the
locations of the various operations master roles. But when you are
planning to decommission a domain controller, to change the global
catalog status of a domain controller, or to reduce the connectivity
between parts of your network, you should review your plan and revise
the free practice questions operations master role assignments, as necessary.