Chapter 15. Migrating from Windows NT

Knowing how to design Active Directory is very useful, but it's not the end of the story. You may already have an existing NetWare or Windows NT infrastructure and want to consider migrating to Active Directory. Alternatively, you may have existing directories and networks that you would like Active Directory to complement rather than replace. One of the most important features of Active Directory is its ability to integrate with other directory services.

In this chapter we will cover some of the issues to consider when migrating from a Windows NT environment to Active Directory. Migrating to Active Directory from an existing NOS infrastructure is analogous to jumping from one moving car to another. This is due to the fact that organizations rarely get the opportunity to take extended downtime from both the client and server perspective to move everyone to Active Directory. In fact, limiting downtime for users is typically one of the top prioritie, so having a well-thought-out migration and fallback plan is critical to reduce the impact to your user base.