Active Directory: Designing, Deploying, and Running Active Directory / Brian Desmond, Joe Richards, Robbie Allen, Alistair G. Lowe-Norris

Organize your network resources by learning how to design, manage, and maintain Active Directory. Updated to cover Windows Server 2012, the fifth edition of this bestselling guide gives you a thorough grounding of Microsoft's network directory service by explaining concepts in an easy-to-understand, narrative style.

You'll negotiate a maze of technologies for deploying a scalable and reliable AD infrastructure, with new chapters on management tools, searching the AD database, authentication and security protocols, and Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS). This book provides real-world scenarios let you apply what you've learned--ideal whether you're a network administrator for a small business or a multinational enterprise.

• Upgrade Active Directory to Windows Server 2012
• Learn the fundamentals, such as how AD stores objects
• Use the AD Administrative Center and other management tools
• Learn to administer AD with Windows PowerShell
• Search and gather AD data, using the LDAP query syntax
• Understand how Group Policy functions
• Tackle designing a new Active Directory forest
• Examine the Kerberos security protocol
• Learn AD Federation Services
• Get a detailed look at the AD replication process
• Explore AD Lightweight Directory Services

Ideal for administrators, IT professionals, project managers, and programmers alike, Active Directory is not only for people getting started with AD, it's also for experienced users who need to stay up-to-date with the latest AD features in Windows Server 2012. It is no wonder this guide is the bestselling AD resource available.