May 2008 - Posts
The long forgotten configuration of Sites and Services - amazing how many times its not actually configured, yet its the crux of Active Directory replication and control of rogue and uncontrolled logon traffic across your WAN links... Figured it would be a good time to document the basics on some of the configuration and why it should be done - not a hugely indepth article, but enough to give some understanding of how it works, why it should be done, and the problems you will get if you don't do it...
Enjoy
http://www.block.net.au/help/AD-Sites/
James
I banter regularly across forum posts about why Workgroups are Evil and why Active Directory is the source of all things good in the Windows World....Why do like it? Because it makes me happy....I have virtually no overhead adminstration for management of users, groups, Printers, Shares, Drives, Resource Assignment etc....Active Directory is A logical, Efficient and Easy way of making me look good in my job - And the best thing is, you can use it in any environment - from 2 users, to 50,000 users - its perfectly scalable for businesses of all Shapes and Sizes...no limits! All you need is your Server Operating System and away you go...
Need help convincing management of why you should implement Active Directory - hopefully this will help
http://www.block.net.au/help/Why-AD/
Enjoy - as always, anything i have missed, let me know
James
Domain Naming Service..... Experienced Admins good friend, and the not so experienced or new Admins worst nightmare - Why? Lack of clear cut basic understanding of what DNS does in the Windows Domain World.....So here we go, an article on the basics of DNS and how it functions in a Windows Domain Environment - what you should and shouldn't do and how simple it is to actually configure
This is just a small guide that barely touches on what DNS can do, but will get you out of trouble when it comes to setting a basic Windows Domain
http://www.block.net.au/help/DNS-Basics/
James
Ever been in position where you have to decide between Single Active Directory, Child Domains or Seperate Forest Architectural Designs? So have I...Numerous times...and it can get quite complex without asking the right questions and taking a holistic approach to your company and business structure as a whole....Design goes past simply Active Directory Modelling and what you would like to do, but also calls upon Management and company direction for the future...
The most confusing parts and the hardest Questions to answer are often "Do I use child domains and if so Why?" or "Do I use a seperate Forest, and again, why?" The reality is, these are indeed hard questions to answer without having the right background information on your company and what they want to do. Decisions can change in a split second depending on a response from a CEO, or Director or any Departmental manager, and if you already have a structure in place, this can be hard to change....
I have posted an article based on my experience in the AD world when it comes to design, I have worked in numerous companies that have charged me with the role of redesigning and future proofing their AD Architecture, and so far so good, The key point i had to learn very quickly was take a step back from the Technical world and focus just as heavily on the business roles and plans for the future.
As always, I am open to review and comments, and stress that this is only what i have seen and done in the past, you may find that your needs and questions are different from mine, but i hope that i can pass through some sort of guidance and help with what i have dealt with in both the Technical and Business Worlds
http://www.block.net.au/help/ad-architecture/
James
I'm not a huge person for putting myself out there and pushing products - but this is one of the exceptions - rDirectory -
I came across this software when looking for a nicer way to manage the GAL than installing the Support Tools and giving people access to AD....this was fantastic - nice gui, nice functionality, and the best thing is, the community version is free - no strings attached - the enterprise edition pretty much lets loose on every part of AD and your management feel of AD is entirely new - but for the basic tasks such as an HR person managing the GAL....this rocks...
http://www.namescape.com/
Enjoy
Morning,
I have posted an article on how to replace a domain controller - a simple concept, yet a fairly unkown process when it actually comes time to do it..... Listed within is step by step guidelines based on the who knows how many times i have done it so feel free to use, abuse, and comment on anything within the article - I am very open to suggestions in improvements and anything thats been missed - but this should get most people through the migration
http://www.block.net.au/help/replace-dc/
Cheers
Hi
So Kieran has been good enough to lend me a space where i can let out all the things that annoy me about the IT world, as well as post some hopefully helpful articles based on my experience in the Directory Services world over the last few years, my aim is to try and tackle some of those common everyday problems and projects that we all face as Admins and Architects, that havent yet been documented clearly....As well as post up some of the things that i have found within Windows Server, Active Directory and Exchange that you may or may not be aware of, little ways of making your life easier along the way
I am no different to any of you, but i do have a passion for Active Directory, and one for sharing knowledge with others that can benefit from it and make their lives easier in the workplace
You may know me around the Experts Exchange Site as Jay_Jay70 (terrible name - dont ask) and those that do, will know i have a few pet hates and a few things that i swear by and will stick up for until the end....I am sure you will find them as these postings grow - and i spend more quality time on the phone to India with Symantecs amazing support team etc etc etc....
Enough for now, this is my first personal blog ever, so play nice and i welcome any feedback on the article and posts that come in the future
Cheers
James