Windows Server® 2012 Unleashed

Outlining the Role of Groups in an AD DS Environment

The AD DS group structure, although not new in AD DS, provides an efficient mechanism for managing security on large numbers of users. Without groups to logically organize users, permissions on each object in a network must be set up manually on a per-user basis. This means that if an entire department needs access to a printer, each user must be manually entered into the permissions list of that printer. These tasks make administration of security daunting.

The concept of groups was therefore devised to ease administration. If a large department needs access to that same printer, the department’s group need only be supplied the necessary permissions. This greatly eases security-based administration ...