What is the partition that contains configuration information for Active Directory Domain Services and applications?

The configuration partition is essential in Active Directory as it holds all the configuration information for the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and various applications that are integrated with it. This includes the details necessary for the functioning of AD DS, such as the structure and the settings of domains, sites, and services.

In Active Directory's multi-master replication model, having a dedicated configuration partition ensures that changes made to the configuration settings are consistently replicated across all domain controllers, promoting coherence and stability within the overall directory structure. This partition is crucial for enabling services, managing policies, and configuring permissions applicable across different domains within the forest.

Although the schema partition contains definitions of all object classes and attributes, and the application partition is used for application-specific data, they do not handle the broader configuration and functional settings which are critical for AD DS. The data partition, on the other hand, primarily consists of user data and other types of directory objects rather than configuration information.