Contents of the Book
This book is split into three parts:
Part I, Active Directory Basics
Chapter 1 reviews the evolution of the Microsoft
NOS and some of the major features and benefits of Active Directory. Chapter 2 provides a high-level look at how
objects are stored in Active Directory and explains some of the
internal structures and concepts that it relies on. Chapter 3 reviews the predefined Naming Contexts
within Active Directory, what is contained within each, and the
purpose of Application Partitions. Chapter 4 gives you information on how the
blueprint for each object and each object's
attributes are stored in Active Directory. Chapter 5 details how the actual replication
process for data takes place between domain controllers. Chapter 6 describes the importance of the Domain
Name System (DNS) and what it is used for within Active Directory. Chapter 7 gives you a detailed introduction to
the capabilities of both user profiles and Group Policy Objects.
Part II, Designing an Active Directory
Infrastructure
Chapter 8 introduces 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. Chapter 9 shows you how to design a
representation of your physical infrastructure within Active
Directory to gain very fine-grained control over intrasite and
intersite replication. Chapter 10 explains how Group Policy Objects
function in Active Directory and how you can properly design an
Active Directory structure to make the most effective use of these
functions. Chapter 11 describes how you can design effective
security for all areas of your Active Directory, in terms of both
access to objects and their properties; it includes information on
how to design effective security access logging in any areas you
choose. Chapter 12 covers procedures for extending the
classes and attributes in the Active Directory schema. Chapter 13 describes how you can back up and
restore Active Directory down to the object level or the entire
directory. Chapter 14 outlines how you can upgrade your
existing Active Directory infrastructure to Windows Server 2003. Chapter 15 gives very basic guidelines on areas to
think about when conducting a Windows NT 4.0 migration. This is only
an introduction to the subject; readers looking for step-by-step
guides or detailed studies of migration will need to look elsewhere. Chapter 16 covers some of the important Active
Directory-related issues when implementing Microsoft Exchange. Chapter 17 looks into what methods exist now and
will exist in the future for integrating Active Directory with other
directories and data stores.
Part III, Scripting Active Directory with ADSI, ADO, and
WMI
Chapter 18 introduces ADSI scripting by leading
you through a series of step-by-step examples. Chapter 19 delves into the concept of the property
cache used extensively by ADSI and shows you how to properly
manipulate any attribute of any object within it. Chapter 20 demonstrates how to make use of a
technology normally reserved for databases and now extended to allow
rapid searching for objects in Active Directory. Chapter 21 gives you the lowdown on how to rapidly
create users and groups, giving them whatever attributes you desire. Chapter 22 explains how other persistent objects
such as services, shares, and printers may be manipulated; it also
looks at dynamic objects, such as print jobs, user sessions, and
resources. Chapter 23 describes how each object contains its
own list of permissions and auditing entries that governs how it can
be accessed and how access is logged. The chapter then details how
you can create and manipulate permission and auditing entries as you
choose. Chapter 24 covers creation of new classes and
attributes programmatically in the schema, and modification of the
existing Active Directory snap-ins to perform additional customized
functions. Chapter 25 goes into how you can extend the
scripts that have been written by incorporating them into web pages
or even converting them to simple VB programs. Chapter 26 gives a quick overview of WMI and goes
through several examples for managing a system, including services,
the registry, and the event log. Accessing AD with WMI is also
covered, along with the new TrustMon and Replication WMI Providers. Chapter 27 describes how to manipulate DNS server
configuration, zones, and resource records with the WMI DNS Provider. Chapter 28 starts off by providing some background
information on the .NET Framework and then dives into several
examples using the System.DirectoryServices namespace with VB.NET.
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