Active Directory For Dummies
Book image
Explore Book Buy On Amazon

The range of Active Directory (AD) has expanded in Windows Server 2008 and has become an essential part of many information technology (IT) environments. Active Directory has become an umbrella for a multitude of technologies surpassing what AD was in Windows Server 2000 and 2003. Check out the new uses for Active Directory:

  • Active Directory Domain Services: An X.500-based directory service that provides integrated authentication and authorization services for a Windows computing environment.

  • Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services: A stripped down version of Active Directory Domain Services that focuses on providing just the directory services functionality.

  • Active Directory Federation Services: A Web Services–based technology for providing Web single sign-on authentication services between different organizations.

  • Active Directory Certificate Services: Provides digital certification enrollment and revocation services in the support of a public key infrastructure (PKI).

  • Active Directory Rights Management Services: Provides a solution for managing how users can use documents that they're authorized to access.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Steve Clines, MCSE, MCT, has worked as an IT architect and engineer at EDS for over 18 years. He has worked on deployments of more than 100,000 seats for both Active Directory and Microsoft Exchange Server. Steve is the author of MCSE Designing a Windows 2000 Directory Services Infrastructure For Dummies, which is a study guide for the 70-219 MCP exam. He also maintains the Confessions of an IT Geek blog at http://itgeek.steveco.net.

Marcia Loughry, MCSE and MCP+I, is a Senior Infrastructure Specialist with a large IT firm in Dallas, Texas. She is president of the Plano, Texas BackOffice User Group (PBUG) and a member of Women in Technology International. Marcia received her MCSE in NT 3.51 in 1997 and completed requirements for the NT 4.0 track in 1998.
Marcia has extensive experience working with Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0 in enterprises of all sizes. She is assigned to some of her firm’s largest customers in designing NT solutions and integrating UNIX and NetWare environments with NT.

This article can be found in the category: