Mission-Critical Active Directory
Learn how to plan and manage a large-scale enterprise through Windows 2000 Active Directory.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Mission-Critical Active Directory
Chapter 7: Group Policy and OU Design
This chapter introduces AD user and computer configuration management and one of its key features: group policy. We will look in detail at the technology behind group policy, what you can do with it, and how you can troubleshoot group policy objects (GPOs). At the end of the chapter we will also examine Windows 2000 group policy and OU design, and how group policy can impact your OU design.
7.1 Group policy
7.1.1 An introduction to Windows 2000 group policy
In Windows 2000, group policy refers to a group of software technologies that allows centralized configuration and change management of user and computer environments. It covers five major areas: local registry management, software deployment, folder redirection, scripts, and security settings management. Through its tight integration with Active Directory, group policy is highly scalable and extensible.
Group policy should not be confused with system policy or user profiles. As will be explained later on in this chapter, Windows 2000 group policies are very different from NT4 system policies. In Windows 2000 Microsoft has extended and optimized the capabilities of system policies. Also, policies are not the same as profiles, as defined in the following:
- Policies define a set of user environment settings that are enforced by a domain or system administrator; a profile contains a set of user settings that can be changed by the user.
- Policies are enforced independently of the machine from which a user logs on to a Windows 2000 domain; if profiles are not roaming, they do...
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