Chapter 7. Managing Group Policy with SBS 2008

Microsoft Windows Server Group Policy is the system of software management used by Active Directory to control the behavior and access associated with user and computer accounts on a Microsoft network. By utilizing Group Policy through Active Directory, administrators can prohibit or grant access to portions of Microsoft and Group Policy-compatible software, install or remove software throughout the infrastructure, and publish updates to users and computers based on an administratively defined set of rules.

Within the modern small-business network, Group Policy is becoming more and more common. In the older days of system administration, Group Policy was usually seen only in large-scale implementations because it used to be a lot more difficult to manage. Group Policy objects and links were a mystery to most system administrators, but now they've become almost as common as a simple user account — well, perhaps not that common, but they're inching ever closer.