'Microsoft's Future of Win 2000 Rests on Active Directory' Says O'Reilly Author.

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

SEBASTOPOL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 2000

According to author Alistair G. Lowe-Norris, "Active Directory is the single most important aspect of the Windows 2000 server line of products. Microsoft's future of Windows 2000 rests on this product."

Active Directory is a fully qualified directory service. It is such an important change that Systems Administrators are likely to find coming to grips with Active Directory to be one of their biggest headaches. But it doesn't have to be that way. A new book by Lowe-Norris, "Windows 2000 Active Directory" (O'Reilly, $39.95), gives administrators an in-depth knowledge of AD.

"Microsoft's Windows 2000 Active Directory is finally released in the Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server products on February 17th 2000," said Lowe-Norris. "Many Windows NT technical architects and systems administrators will be coming to Windows 2000 with little experience on the Active Directory. A proper design process needs to be considered for this product, with manageability post-deployment in the minds of the designers. Management of the Active Directory can be reduced using Group Policy Objects, with day- to-day management achieved using the given tools or ones that you create yourself using scripting technologies like ADSI and ADO. I wanted to explain the complex subject of the Active Directory in simple terms so that the benefits of it could be gained quickly for all size organizations."

"Windows 2000 Active Directory" focuses on the practical, hands-on information you need to design a reliable, scalable and manageable Active Directory for any size organization. Instead of a screen-by-screen description of the graphical user interface, this book focuses on the tasks you need to perform to manage your organization's directory effectively.

The heavy emphasis on scripting with the ADSI will help you automate tasks to achieve greater reliability and save time. "Windows 2000 Active Directory" is a practical guide to the new technology for the overworked system or network administrator.

About the author:

Alistair G. Lowe-Norris currently works as an enterprise program manager at Microsoft and previous to that was a system administrator at Leicester University in the U.K. For the past two years, he has been responsible for the rollout of Windows 2000 and the replacement of the existing NetWare installation at the university. He holds an MCSE and MCIS, and is a frequent contributor to Windows NT Magazine.

Chapter 8, Profiles and Group Policy Primer, is free online at: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/win2000ads/chapter/ch08.html!

For more information about the book, including Table of Contents, index, author bio, and samples, see: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/win2000ads/

For more information, a review copy, cover art, or interview with the author, contact: Lisa Mann 707/829-0515 ext. 230 or [e-mail]

For a cover graphic in jpeg format. go to: ftp://ftp.ora.com/pub/graphics/book_covers/hi-res/1565926382.jpg

Windows 2000 Active Directory By Alistair G. Lowe-Norris

1st Edition January 2000 1-56592-638-2, 642 pages, $39.95 [e-mail] 1-800-998-9938 http://www.oreilly.com