Active Directory, Second Edition

Contents of the Book

This book is split into three parts:

Part I, Active Directory Basics

• Chapter 1 reviews the evolution of the Microsoft NOS and some of the major features and benefits of Active Directory.

• Chapter 2 provides a high-level look at how objects are stored in Active Directory and explains some of the internal structures and concepts that it relies on.

• Chapter 3 reviews the predefined Naming Contexts within Active Directory, what is contained within each, and the purpose of Application Partitions.

• Chapter 4 gives you information on how the blueprint for each object and each object’s attributes are stored in Active Directory.

• Chapter 5 details how the actual replication process for data takes place between domain controllers.

• Chapter 6 describes the importance of the Domain Name System (DNS) and what it is used for within Active Directory.

• Chapter 7 gives you a detailed introduction to the capabilities of both user profiles and Group Policy Objects.

Part II, Designing an Active Directory Infrastructure

• Chapter 8 introduces the steps and techniques involved in properly preparing a design that reduces the number of domains and increases administrative control through the use of Organizational Units.

• Chapter 9 shows you how to design a representation of your physical infrastructure within Active Directory to gain very fine-grained control over intrasite and intersite replication.

• Chapter 10 explains how Group Policy Objects function in Active Directory and how you can ...