Active Directory: Designing, Deploying, and Running Active Directory

Articulate and technically astute, the author adopts the role of a trusted advisor on the best ways to handle the move from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000, with an expert's view of designing the layout of your company's Active Directory schema. In realistic terms, he shows you how AD can coexist with UNIX directories. The book not only provides a collection of screenshots (though there are hands-on tutorials for specific tasks), but also a nicely in-depth tour of what Internet directories are and what advantages Active Directory offers. The author's case studies on sample domains and organisation units (OUs) for sample companies, including a model global corporation, will help any network administrator cope with the design of even the most complex directories. His hints for limiting "domains" and favouring the more flexible "organisational units" (OUs) will also help administrators think in Windows 2000 terms.

Later sections of the book delve into Active Directory Services Interface (ASDI) scripting using Windows Script Host (WSH), Visual Basic, and even ASPs for browser-based administration. Assuming very little programming background, the author provides tips and sample scripts for a variety of common administrative tasks, such as adding new users, changing passwords and the like. This focus on the practical side of administration rounds out an extremely useful guide to Windows 2000. This technically savvy book can definitely simplify the life of any administrator, manager, or developer upgrading to the latest Windows and who needs to understand and use AD effectively. --Richard Dragan, Amazon.com

It covers the essentials clearly and concisely, from the basic theory of what AD is to more practical details such as an excellent detailed description of all the settings available in a group policy object.
It then moves on to designing Active Directory, including a few invaluable practical examples and more up-to-date info such as how to upgrade to 2003 Server and where Active Directory fits into Microsoft's overall vision for Directory Services.
Finally there is quite a large section that gets into the nitty-gritty of writing scripts for AD using ADSI, ADO or WMI and how to extend the existing snap-ins.

Overall, I have to say this is the best book I have read on Active Directory (and I've read quite a few!) and is a considerable improvement over the first edition, mostly because it obviously draws heavily on the experiences the authors have gained by actually administering an Active Directory for a few years.

Throughout the book the authors highlight what's new in Windows Server 2003 regarding Active Directory, and the book is worth the money for this alone.

If you only buy one Active Directory book, buy this one.


Excellent place to start with Active Directory   March 13, 2002
 8 out of 9 found this review helpful

This book is an excellent place to start if you know little or nothing about MS Active Directory. Another review says the scripting section is quite large, which is true.
I found most of chapters invaluable, as it covers much of the stuff Microsoft assumes you already know, such as how to design your DNS and AD structure, how to Migrate/Integrate from/with Windows NT. Also touches on Exchange2000.
This is not really a reference book, more a chapter-by-chapter read. This is not a critisism as I retained much of the information the book contains.
Buy this book if you know little or nothing about MS Active Directory, and wish to know how to go about designing your AD network and how it will affect your existing environment. Also, if you are a late starter to AD and Windows 2000 Server this book is for you.
The only reason I gave it four stars was because once it had served it's purpose, I moved on and would probably not read it again. Do what I did , and pass it on.
Excellent book.


More for people intrested in Scritping.   December 14, 2000
 6 out of 10 found this review helpful

The book in split into 3 Sections, 1 & 2 are about "Basics" and "Designing" and are about 330 pages between them. The last section on "Scripting" is 250 pages, so the main focus of this book is on that. One of the best ways to find a good book, is to look at the index (I did this after I bought this book) under "I". This section has 2 pages of references to "IADs". Compare that to "DDNS", "DNS" and "LDAP". Tools to work with Windows 2000 are really important e.g. "RepAdmin", "ReplMon" "DSAStat", "GPOTool" and "GPResult". It does mention "NETDOM" and MOVETREE" but not enough information on the subject of Tools in general. To back this up look at page 61 and see what is said about "RepAdmin" and "ReplMon". I did get into this book but I wanted more before the scripting section. Don't get me wrong Scripting will be big in Windows 2000 but it doesn't warrant the coverage in this book compared to the other sections. Maybe people into VB and programming in general might disagree with me.