What does the Active Directory database mounting tool do?
Although the Active Directory database mounting tool does not recover deleted objects by itself, it helps streamline the process for recovering objects that have been accidentally deleted. Before the Windows Server® 2008 operating system, when objects or organizational units (OUs) were accidentally deleted, the only way to determine exactly which objects were deleted was to restore data from backups. This approach had two drawbacks: Active Directory had to be restarted in Directory Services Restore Mode to perform an authoritative restore. An administrator could not compare data in backups that were taken at different points in time (unless the backups were restored to various domain controllers, a process which is not feasible). The purpose of the Active Directory database mounting tool is to expose AD DS data that is stored in snapshots or backups online. Administrators can then compare data in snapshots or backups that are taken at different points in time, which in turn helps them
