Active Directory, Third Edition.

Active Directory, Third Edition

Since its introduction in Windows 2000, Microsoft's Active Directory has improved the way organizations share network resources such as users, groups, computers, printers, applications, and files. "Having a single source for this information makes it more accessible and easier to manage," notes Robbie Allen, coauthor of the highly acclaimed "Active Directory," now available in its third edition (O'Reilly). 'To accomplish this, however, requires a significant amount of knowledge on topics such as LDAP, Kerberos, DNS, multi-master replication, group policies, and data partitioning, to name a few." In other words, Active Directory is still a major headache for network and system administrators who have to design, implement, and support it. Allen's book, co-written with industry experts Joe Richards and Alistair G. Lowe-Norris, offers a clear and detailed introduction that not only guides administrators through the maze of technologies, but also helps them understand the big picture."Active Directory" is divided into three sections: -Part I introduces in general terms how Active Directory works, giving readers a thorough grounding in its concepts, such as Active Directory replication, the schema, application partitions, group policies, and interaction with DNS.

-Part II covers the issues around properly designing the directory infrastructure, including designing the namespace, creating a site topology, designing group policies for locking down client settings, auditing, permissions, backup and recovery, and a look at Mierosoft's future direction with Directory Services.

-Part III is all about managing Active Directory via automation with Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI), ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). Readers learn how to create and manipulate users, groups, printers, and other objects in their everyday management of Active Directory.