What does Garbage Collection do in Active Directory?

What does Garbage Collection do in Active Directory?

• A. Frees up space in Active Directory and runs by default every 12 hours
• B. Defragments the hard drive hourly
• C. Reindexes DNS zones automatically
• D. Deletes old user accounts periodically

Answer: (A)

Garbage collection in Active Directory is the process that permanently removes objects that have been deleted and marked as tombstoned once their tombstone lifetime has expired. By doing so, it reclaims space in the AD database (NTDS.DIT) and keeps the directory size under control. It runs automatically on domain controllers, with a default interval of about every 12 hours, so administrators don’t need to trigger it manually. This is why the option describing freeing up space and running on a default 12-hour schedule is the best fit. Defragmenting the hard drive hourly, reindexing DNS zones automatically, and deleting old user accounts periodically are not what garbage collection does in Active Directory.

Garbage collection in Active Directory is the process that permanently removes objects that have been deleted and marked as tombstoned once their tombstone lifetime has expired. By doing so, it reclaims space in the AD database (NTDS.DIT) and keeps the directory size under control. It runs automatically on domain controllers, with a default interval of about every 12 hours, so administrators don’t need to trigger it manually. This is why the option describing freeing up space and running on a default 12-hour schedule is the best fit.

Defragmenting the hard drive hourly, reindexing DNS zones automatically, and deleting old user accounts periodically are not what garbage collection does in Active Directory.