Active Directory / Domain Design

Single Domain

Why is domain design important? 

At present a lot of companies have a single domain for their resources and user accounts. This leads to a "spiders web" of "trusts" that is difficult to manage effectively. 

It also means that almost every support person has administrator privileges – even the junior ones. They can do untold amounts of damage without realising it. Would you give everybody (including the milkman) the keys to your house?

As companies expand globally, the 'spiders web' is inefficient on Wide Area Network (WAN) access and almost impossible to add in technology safely from any acquisitions.

Multiple Domain

By separating your domains into user and resource domains you can partition the administration of your network. Resources belong to, and are managed by, the people responsible for them. Better security and peace of mind.

The structure is scaleable across even the largest companies and can be made to work efficiently in a WAN environment.

Structuring your domains this way positions you to adopt a sensible Domain Name Service (DNS) structure, something that is vital for your Internet presence, as well as facilitating your migration to Microsoft’s Active Directory.

Active Directory and Organisational Units

Active Directory is the new way Microsoft expects you to publish anything of interest to the world. That includes user account details, resources, network devices or applications. The idea is that the Active Directory becomes the repository for anything that may be of interest in your system.

We can offer Active Directory design and migration to help you answer the following questions:

• What should I call the root domain in the forest?
• How do I structure the organisational units: by department, by geography or by function?
• What’s the best way of setting up administrative control (delegation)?
• How do I distribute the Active Directory throughout the organisation i.e. where should I position the different Active Directory sites?
• When can I migrate from "mixed mode" to "native mode" domain controllers?