Windows 2000 Active Directory Design and Deployment

Gary L. Olsen was a member of Microsoft's Windows 2000 Enterprise Beta support group for two years, which involved helping beta newsgroups, identifying bugs, validating bug fixes, and testing beta releases at the Microsoft campus. He is the author of numerous Microsoft Knowledge Base articles and a frequent presenter at conferences on Windows 2000 design and migration. As a consultant in Compaq's Customer Services division, Gary has taken part in numerous Windows 2000 design reviews for Compaq and Microsoft customers. He holds a BS in industrial education and an MS in computer-aided manufacturing from Brigham Young University. Gary has been married to Colleen Johnson Olsen for 29 years and has four daughters, Jennifer, Melinda, Shanna, and Lisa, and one son, Russell. He enjoys gardening, woodworking, and auto body repair, and is very active in his church.

(NOTE: Each chapter concludes with a “What's Next?” section.)

1. Developing a Business Justification for Migrating to Windows 2000.


Reasons to Migrate to Windows 2000. Reasons to Delay Migration.



2. Defining and Evaluating the Current Environment.


Survey the Current Environment. Conclusion.



3. The Action (Project) Plan and Cost Justification of the Project.


The Design Team. Purpose, Objectives, and Scope. Cost Justification: Return on Investment and Total Cost of Ownership. Recommendations on Areas of Significant Cost Reduction.



4. Namespace Design of the Windows 2000 Active Directory.


Fundamentals of the Windows 2000 Namespace. DNS. Designing the Domain Namespace. Single- Versus Multiple-Domain Structure. Strategic Use of OUs in Namespace Design. The Remote Office. Case Study: Developing the RECC Corporation's Namespace.



5. Group Policy Design, Planning, and Implementation.


Application of Group Policy. Advanced Group Policy Principles. Group Policy Deployment. Windows NT 4.0 and Group Policy Migration Issues. Best Practices in Group Policy Design.



6. Server Roles.


Flexible Single Master Operations. Placement of FSMO Role Holders. Global Catalog Server Placement. Case Study: The Global Catalog and FSMO Placement Plan for the RECC.com. Infrastructure. Summary.



7. Active Directory Replication and Site Design.


Understanding and Designing the Replication Topology. Site Design. File Replication Service: The “Other Replication Service”. The Replication and Site Design Document. Case Study: Site Design for RECC. References.



8. Active Directory Capacity Planning.


Understanding the Windows 2000 Architecture. Active Directory Database Sizing. Active Directory Network Traffic. Server Sizing. Windows 2000 Sizing Tools and Methodologies. References.



9. Security Design and Planning.


Access Control and Authentication. Public Keys and Encryption. Security Configuration Tools and Methods. Case Study: Designing the Security Configuration for the RECC Corp.. Enterprise.



10. Developing the Migration Plan.


Completion and Review of Windows 2000 Active Directory Design Plans. Selecting the Migration Method. Desktop Migration. Case Study: RECC Corp..



11. Implementation of the Migration Plan.


Implementation of the Upgrade Plan. Implementation of the Restructure Plan. Migration Tools.



12. The Transition Period and Post-Migration Tasks.


Network Preparation. The Transition Period. The Pilot. Post-Migration Operations.



13. Integrating Windows 2000 Active Directory with Novell NetWare.


Novell NetWare: An Overview and History. Directory Services. Tools. Interoperating Between NDS and Active Directory.



14. Interoperability with Other Third-Party Network Operating Systems.


Interoperability with UNIX. Interoperability with Macintosh. Summary.



15. Windows 2000: Current Status and Futures.


Final Analysis. Windows 2000 Futures. Epilogue.



Appendix. Case Study: Reliable Equipment & Computer Components, Inc.


Company Description. Namespace Design. Action Plan. Developing the Group Policy Plan for the RECC Corporation. FSMO Role and Global Catalog Placement Plan. Replication Site Topology Plan. Security Configuration and Certificate Authority Plan. Summary.