Chapter 2. Administering Computer Accounts and Resources in Active Directory

Terms you’ll need to understand:

✓ Domains

✓ Domain Trees

✓ Domain Forests

✓ Computer accounts

✓ Run As feature

✓ Globally unique identifiers (GUIDs)

✓ Organizational units (OUs)

✓ Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0

✓ Active Directory Users and Computers console

Techniques you’ll need to master:

✓ Adding and removing computer accounts

✓ Prestaging computer accounts

✓ Using command-line tools for modifying Active Directory objects

✓ Using the Action Pane in the MMC 3.0

✓ Enabling full functionality for MMC 3.0

✓ Managing resources using the Run As command

Microsoft introduced Active Directory with the debut of Windows 2000 Server in February 2000. Active Directory provides a directory service for Microsoft-based networks in the same way that Novell Directory Services (NDS) provides a directory service for NetWare environments. For Windows Server 2003, Microsoft enhanced and refined Active Directory by making the directory service more flexible, more scalable, and more manageable than its Windows 2000 predecessor. Active Directory is a vital element in Windows Server 2003, and its many benefits can offer a compelling reason to upgrade, especially if you are coming from a Windows NT Server environment.

Understanding how to manage objects within Active Directory is critical for a successful deployment and reliable day-to-day operations of a Windows Server 2003 Active Directory–based network. In this chapter, we introduce you to Active Directory for Windows Server 2003. You’ll discover how to add, remove, and manage computer accounts in Active Directory. Unfortunately, network administration doesn’t always go smoothly, so you’ll also learn about how to troubleshoot computer accounts in Windows Server 2003 and Active Directory.

Microsoft released Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) on March 2004, as a major update. In December 2005, Microsoft published the R2 (Release 2) Edition of Windows Server 2003, in 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) versions. This chapter and this book covers all of these different permutations of the Windows Server 2003 operating system—the original Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version, SP1, and R2 in both the 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) flavors. The functionality and features covered in this book apply to all of these editions, except where noted.