The domain win.desy.de is a common domain for the sites in Hamburg and Zeuthen. It based on Microsoft Windows 2012 and 2019 servers and Windows 10 workstations.

The basic component is the "Active Directory" (a distributed database), which enables hierarchical administration of user accounts, computers and printers and other network resources. For better clarity, these objects are managed in organizational units (OUs). These OUs mostly correspond to the organizational chart of DESY. For each of these OUs there are group administrators who can perform specific administrative tasks.

To improve server reliability, a large number of servers work in “cluster mode”. This means that two or more computers are mutually able to compensate for the failure of one device. The most important services, such as home and group drives, printer servers and the application servers are secured using this mode.