Question

I have to create a table and store Active Directory SIDs representing an User or a Group.

How would you name the category representing both an User and a Group ?

Edit 1.

Table will contain four columns : ID ( PK ), SID’s Name, SID’s value and another column for SID’s Type ( 0 for User, 1 for Group ).
Please suggest the table name, not only the columns names.

Answer 1

Active Directory uses the term “principal” or “security principal” for both. That also includes computers.

Here’s a grahpic image from the MSDN article Managing Directory Security Principals in the .NET Framework 3.5 that shows the hierarchy.

_{(source: microsoft.com)}

So I would probably call my table Principals and have the three columns you mentioned:

• PrincipalName (string)
• SID (string or binary)
• PrincipalType (0 for User, 1 for Group)