Inside Active Directory: System Admin Guide (Microsoft Windows Server System Series) Book

The most practical, comprehensive, and highly praised guide to Active Directory has now been fully updated for Windows Server 2003. The second edition of Inside Active Directory: A System Administrator?s Guide offers a definitive reference to the design, architecture, installation, and management of Active Directory, the cornerstone technology within Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 distributed networks. This new edition?based on the final release software of Windows Server 2003?emphasizes security and covers all the new features, including enhancements in replication and Group Policy, forest trusts, functional levels, and working with dynamic objects.

Inside this core reference, you?ll find practical strategies for managing Active Directory, along with detailed instructions for efficiently administering your entire network operating environment. You will find detailed coverage of the following:

Site basics and replication topologies, processes, and diagnostics
Group Policy architecture, planning, management, and diagnostics
Security and permission architecture and management scenarios
Administration scripts, from basic concepts to advanced topics, including more than 50 sample scripts
New cross-forest security features, including Selective Authentication, SID Filtering, and Name Suffix Routing
A detailed drill-down to the schema, and practical strategies and examples for extending it
Using Active Directory hierarchies to implement an effective structure for your network

This is an indispensable reference for anyone working with Active Directory. Network operating system novices will gain a solid understanding of Active Directory, while administrators experienced in NT, NetWare, or UNIX will learn how to utilize their current skills in Active Directory. Experienced Windows 2000/Windows Server 2003 professionals will pick up advanced techniques, and developers will benefit strongly from the architecture topics.