Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
As you can see, NTFS has numerous advantages over the older FAT file systems. You explore
many of these features in detail in Chapter 6.
Active Directory
is the foundation of a Windows network environment. This directory service
enables administrators to create and manage users and groups, set network-wide user and com-
puter policies, manage security, and organize network resources.
With Active Directory, you transform a limited, nonscalable workgroup network into a
Windows domain with nearly unlimited scalability. (The differences between workgroup and
domain models are explained in “Windows Networking Concepts” later in this chapter.) Active
Directory and all its features and functions are the primary focus of this topic, and you learn
more about using and configuring Active Directory in subsequent chapters. To summarize, the
following are Active Directory's main purposes and features:
• Provides a single point of administration of network resources, such as users, groups,
shared printers, shared files, servers, and workstations
• Provides centralized authentication and authorization of users to network resources
• Along with DNS, provides domain-naming services and management for a Windows domain
• Enables administrators to assign system policies, deploy software to client computers, and
assign permissions and rights to users of network resources
You delve into all these functions and more in later chapters. In Chapter 3, you install Active
Directory and learn about its basic functions. Subsequent chapters go into more detail.
A server OS requires a myriad of tools that administrators must use to manage, support, and
troubleshoot a server system. One challenge that comes with so many tools is the numerous user
interfaces an administrator has to learn. Microsoft has lessened that challenge by providing a
common framework for running most administrative tools called the Microsoft Management
Console (MMC). The MMC alone isn't very useful, as you can see in Figure 1-2. What makes it
useful is the bevy of snap-ins you can install. Each snap-in is designed to perform a specific
administrative task, such as the Disk Management snap-in shown in Figure 1-3.
Figure 1-2
The Microsoft Management Console
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