Installation and Implementation of Active Directory

Abstract

Microsoft’s Active Directory (AD) services provide methods of unifying an entire network of devices and applications. AD is a central collection of users, groups and computers, enabling single sign-on (SSO) for devices and applications joined to the AD domain. However, the tools provided by Microsoft that helps to manage the AD services do not offer the capabilities of bulk user, group and computer management. Existing tools provide mechanisms for managing user properties, passwords and group membership in bulk; however, each tool solves an individual problem. In this project, the Active Directory Management Tool (ADMT) combines several of these mechanisms into a single application. Integrating these tools aids system administrators by providing a single tool to manage multiple components of AD. Additionally, this tool manages group membership based on a user’s role within a business. This will aid system administrators in defining the level of access that a particular person with a given business role should have. Also, the tool includes a logical filter. Microsoft’s tools include a filter that utilizes an object’s string attributes to determine if the attribute’s value contains a specified phrase. The logical filter proposed will allow system administrators to utilize additional attributes to determine if the attribute’s value falls within a certain range