Active Directory, Second Edition (Paperback)

by Alistair G. Lowe-Norris (Author), Robbie Allen (Author)
Key Phrases: restore mode, default domain policy, security descriptor, Windows Server, Organizational Unit, Service Pack (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Windows 2000 Active Directory is a notably authoritative and engaging guide to the Microsoft Active Directory (AD) for any administrator or developer making the move to the new Windows and this powerful directory standard.

Articulate and technically astute, the author comes across as a trusted advisor, providing 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 screen shots (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. Case studies on sample domains and organization units (OUs) for sample companies, including a model global corporation, will help you cope with the design of even the most complex directories. Hints for limiting "domains" and favoring the more flexible "organizational units" (OUs) will also help you 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. The tips and sample scripts for a variety of common administrative tasks, such as adding new users, changing passwords, and the like, assume very little programming background. This focus on the practical side of administration rounds out an extremely useful and technically savvy guide to Windows 2000 that can definitely simplify the life of any administrator, manager, or developer upgrading to the latest Windows. --Richard Dragan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Active Directory, 2nd Edition, provides system and network administrators, IT professionals, technical project managers, and programmers with a clear, detailed look at Active Directory for both Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. The upgraded Active Directory that ships with Windows Server 2003 has over 100 new and enhanced features and once again, O'Reilly has the answers to puzzling questions. While Microsoft's documentation serves as an important reference, Active Directory, 2nd Edition is a guide to help the curious (and weary) understand the big picture. In addition to the technical details for implementing Active Directory, several new and significantly enhanced chapters describe the numerous features that have been updated or added in Windows Server 2003 along with coverage of new programmatic interfaces that are available to manage it. Active Directory, 2nd Edition will guide you through the maze of concepts, design issues and scripting options enabling you to get the most out of your deployment.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 752 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.; 2nd edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596004664
• ISBN-13: 978-0596004668
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #684,768 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Coverage of Key Technology, February 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Windows 2000 Active Directory (Paperback)

This is a truly excellent book. Written by the person who headed up the largest Windows 2000 deployment (in Europe) to date, it not only covers the 'What' of Active Directory, but the 'How' and 'Why'. This includes not only the technical aspects of Active Directory but also the operational and business aspects that are all too rarely addressed in this kind of book,<consultantbabble intensity="religious fervour">but that absolutely have to be dealt with if any kind of ROI is to be realised from this technology</consultantbabble>.

If that isn't enough, the last part of the book shows how to roll your own scripts for adding users, querying the Active Directory etc.. Or as I prefer to think of it, repetitive tasks that you don't really want to go near the gui for. I have this book down as having 585 pages of solid fact, no filler, all examples kept short and focussing on the point in question.

This is an example of how technical books should be written - lots of hard fact with unambigous examples in a well-written style. If you have to go near Windows 2000 & the Active Directory (and I suspect one or two people may be in this position) then buy this book.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It doesn't get much better than this., May 7, 2000

By	[e-mail] (Minneapolis, Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Windows 2000 Active Directory (Paperback)

Like a lot of other O'Reilly books, this one should really cost twice as much. Packed full of helpful information and not afraid to reveal Windows 2000's weakpoints, this book will pay for itself a hundred times over.

In addition to being up-to-date, you'll get some information in this book that you'll be hard-pressed to find in any other places. The most obvious example of this is the extensive coverage given to the Active Directory Services Interface (ADSI).

O'Reilly's Active Directory book should be made mandatory reading for anyone before deploying Windows 2000 and Active Directory. Put this one on your short list of "Must Reads" for W2K.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS IS THE DEFINITIVE ONE!!, February 15, 2006

By	John R. Vacca "Tech Write Independent Reviewer" (Pomeroy, Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Active Directory, 3rd Edition (Paperback)

Are you an Active Directory Administrator? If you are, this book is for you. Authors Joe Richards, Robbie Allen and Alistair Lowe-Norris, have written an outstanding 3rd edition of a book that shows you how to deploy a scalable and reliable Active Directory (AD) infrastructure.

Richards, Allen and Lowe-Norris, begin by reviewing the evolution of the Microsoft NOS and some of the major features and benefits of AD. Then, they provide a high-level look at how objects are stored in AD and explain some of the internal structures and concepts that it relies on. The authors continue by reviewing the predefined Naming Contexts within AD, what it contained within each, and the purpose of Application Partitions. In addition, they give information on how the blueprints for each object and each object's attributes are stored in AD. The authors also detail how the actual replication process for data takes place between domain controllers. Then, the authors describe the importance of the Domain Name System and what it is used for within AD. Next, they give you a detailed introduction to the capabilities of both user profiles and Group Policy Objects. Next, the authors introduce the steps and techniques involved in properly preparing a design that reduces the number of domains and increases administrative control through the use of Organizational Units. Then, they show you how to design a representation of your physical infrastructure within AD to gain very fine-grained control over intrasite and intersite replication. The authors continue to explain how Group Policy Objects function in AD and how you can properly design an AD structure to make the most effective use of these functions. In addition, they describe how you can design effective security for all areas of your AD, in terms of both access to objects and their properties. In addition, they cover procedures for extending the classes and attributes in the AD schema. The authors also describe how you can back up and restore AD down to the object level or the entire directory. Then, the authors outline how you can upgrade your existing AD infrastructure to Windows Server 2003. Next, they outline the process to upgrade your existing AD to Windows Server 2003 R2. Then, they give you very basic guidelines on areas to think about when conducting a Windows NT 4.0 migration. The authors continue by covering some important AD--related issues when implementing Microsoft Exchange. In addition, they introduce AD Application Mode (ADAM), now included with Windows Server 2003 R2, along with information on some of the upgrades from the RTW version of ADAM. Finally, the authors start off by providing some background information on the .NET Framework and then dive into several examples using the System.DirectoryServices namespace with VB.NET.

As you can see from the preceding, this excellent book describes AD in depth. If you want a book that lays bare the design and management of an enterprise or departmental AD, you need look no further. This is the one!