Active Directory for Dummies (Paperback)

by Marcia Loughry (Author), Marcia R. Loughry (Author) "With all the media hype surrounding the release of Windows 2000 Server, you may already be a bit intimidated by the prospect of working with..." (more)
Key Phrases: Terminal Services, Administrative Tools, Directory Service Migration Tool (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Active Directory, a fundamental component of Windows 2000, is revolutionizing the way people design and manage networks. Whether you are a savvy system administrator or are new to networking and information technology, Active Directory For Dummies helps you understand this wonderful new operating system technology.

This unpretentious resource presents the fundamentals of Active Directory and then moves right into planning, implementing, and managing it. Active Directory For Dummies offers a clear explanation of the program and a cataloging of its benefits and buzzwords. Explore the following topics in easy-to-understand language:

• Prepare your environment for a shift to Active Directory.
• Consider logical structure issues like planning the DNS namespace, designing the tree, and defining an organizational unit (OU) model.
• Build a model of an Active Directory domain and create your first objects.
• Migrate from an existing environment to an Active Directory environment.
• Manage security, users, resources, and replication traffic within the Active Directory tree.
• Understand how the Active Directory Services Interface works with other Microsoft technology.

Active Directory For Dummies also includes cool Web links for information on the program as well as a special section on troubleshooting common problems that may arise during installation and operation of Active Directory. The enclosed CD-ROM offers you 60-day test-drive versions of Visio Professional and Visio Enterprise as well as trial versions of Entevo DirectMigrate2000, EtherPeek 4.0, EtherHelp, TokenPeek, and TokenHelp.

From the Back Cover
Visio Professional Test Drive plus migration tools on CD-ROM

Plain-English explanations of trees, forests, and other Active Directory concepts

Harness the power of Active Directory for everything from migration to network management If you're an IT professional, Active Directory is probably the one feature of Windows 2000 you're most excited about. But because it's so different from NT, it's also a little scary. Relax! With this friendly guide at your side, you'll quickly get a handle on this powerful network management tool — and jumpstart your deployment of Windows 2000. all this on the bonus CD-ROM 60-day Test Drive version of Visio Professional and Visio Enterprise Trial versions of Entevo DirectMigrate2000, EtherPeek, 4.0, EtherHelp, TokenPeek, and TokenHelp Plus all original Visio files for figures in the book so that you don't have to create your Active Directory diagrams from scratch! PC with Pentium 90 or faster running Windows 95 or later; or NT 4 or later.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; Bk&CD-Rom edition (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764506595
• ISBN-13: 978-0764506598
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #294,913 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good, Simple Overview or Refresher, May 21, 2000

By	David Gurgel (Roseland, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Doing Active Directory right was important to my small technology company, so I bought more than ten books on Active Directory, Windows 2000 Server, and DNS. This Dummies book I took home and planned to skim through it first, thinking it would be a nice quick introduction.

The book got mislaid, and I did not pick it up again until I was nicely up to speed with Active Directory and had done several installations. I read it anyway on a Saturday night as a quick review and was surprised at the clear style, nice organization, and adequacy of its coverage of the subject matter.

If you have just a day or two to get up to speed with this important new Microsoft technology, this book will certainly do. System administrators and architects will want a more technical treatment.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great little book, March 23, 2001

By A Customer

One of my students told me about this book and brought it to class. I hadn't expected so much technical content from a Dummies book. This little book really should be the starting point for anyone interested in Active Directory.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent book of negligible usefulness, October 13, 2000

By	Devin Rambo (Ventura, CA United States) - See all my reviews

The fantastic complexity of Windows 2000 Active Directory almost makes the title of this book an oxymoron. Win2K presents a huge paradigm shift to network administrators, since the Active Directory is a completely new, radically different beast from what Windows NT was. Understanding AD and how it works takes patience...it isn't accidental that there are 1000+ page books out there on setting up and maintaining an AD infrastructure. This book doesn't aim to help you do specific tasks in AD, but what it does very well is explain in basic terms what AD is and does, how it it structured, and give you the frame of reference you need before you delve further in. But I'm not sure how many people need to [pay] for this book when there are other books out there that deal much more extensively in the workings of AD. The bottom line is that computer enthusiasts curious about the central feature of Win2K and newbie administrators of Win2K who have little or no experience with NT4 will find it a useful primer on AD. For anyone else, it's probably better to put the [money] toward one of the more detailed, albeit less plainspoken, AD guides.