Networking All-in-One For Dummies

Chapter 6

Using Group Policy

In This Chapter

Looking at group policy concepts

Enabling group policy on a Windows Server

Editing group policy objects

Group policy refers to a feature of Windows operating systems that lets you control how certain aspects of Windows and other Microsoft software work throughout your network. Many features that you might expect to find in a management console, such as Active Directory Users and Computers, are controlled by group policy instead. You must use group policy to control how often users must change their passwords, for example, and how complicated their passwords must be. As a result, group policy is an important tool for any Windows network administrator.

Unfortunately, group policy can be a confusing beast. In fact, it’s one of the most confusing aspects of Windows network administration. So don’t be put off if you find this chapter more confusing than other chapters in this minibook. Group policy becomes clear after you spend some time actually working with it.

Understanding Group Policy

Here it is in a nutshell: Group policy consists of a collection of group policy objects (also called GPOs) that define individual policies. These policy ...