Replication between a domain controller in a child domain and a domain controller in its parent domain is ________.

• A. partial
• B. total
• C. nonexistent
• D. intransitive

Answer: (A)

Across domains in Active Directory, replication uses the Global Catalog, which provides a partial replica of each domain’s objects. This means that when a domain controller in a child domain talks to a domain controller in its parent, only a subset of attributes for those objects is replicated. This partial replication is intentional, enabling fast cross-domain searches and logon support without transferring the entire domain data. If full data were replicated across domain boundaries, it would be heavier and slower; the Global Catalog keeps just the necessary details (the partial attribute set) to meet these needs.