2.1.2.2 Component Functionality

The following diagram shows the internal components and protocol connections for the Group Policy protocols.

Figure 5: Internal component functions

The general functions of Group Policy components as follows:

Core Group Policy engine: Coordinates the application and processing of Group Policy by handling tasks such as:

• Applying Group Policy at regular intervals

• Accessing GPOs and retrieving GPO extension lists from Active Directory.

• Accessing policy settings on the Group Policy file share.

• Filtering and ordering GPOs

• Providing notification of Group Policy changes.

Extension protocols: Consist of CSE and Administrative tool extension protocols that extend Group Policy application functionality. Note that implementers can create their own custom extension protocols, as described in [MS-GPOL], section 1.8.

In the preceding diagram, the color-code scheme indicates that most Group Policy extension protocols implement both an administrative-side and a client-side extension. However, the Group Policy: Firewall and Advanced Security Data Structure defined in [MS-GPFAS], implements only an administrative-side extension. For additional information about administrative-side and client-side extensions, see sections 1.1.4 and 2.2.

Group Policy file share: An implementation-specific version of a file share location. The Group Policy file share location and its internal directory structure are shared with all Group Policy clients and can be replicated to other peers in a multimaster topology.

Group Policy management: The Administrative tool provides facilities for locating, retrieving, creating, modifying, and deleting group policies. These management functions can be accomplished from an interface such as the GPMC, a custom application, or a command-line tool.

Directory service: An implementation-specific version of an LDAP-accessible directory service, such as Active Directory, for the storage of GPOs.