8.3 Overview of the Design Process

The namespace design process takes place in three stages:

Design of the domain namespace

During the first stage, you deal with the namespace design itself. That means calculating the number of domains you need, designing the forest and tree structure, and defining the naming scheme for workstations, servers, and the network as a whole.

Design of the internal domain structure

During the second stage, you need to concentrate on the internal structure of each domain that you have previously noted. Here you also need to use your business model as a template for the internal structure and then move on to consider how administration and other rights will be delegated. The internal structure can also be modified depending on how you intend to use Group Policy Objects; this will be covered in Chapter 10.

Global catalog design

During the third stage, you work out your designs for the global catalog (GC).

When you are finished with your design, you can implement the design by setting up a test forest in a lab environment. This will enable you to get a better feel for how the design actually works and whether there is anything you have failed to consider. We can't stress enough the use of a test environment.