Lab 7.1: Planning a Windows NT 4 Directory Services Migration to Windows 2000 Active Directory

Lab Objectives

After completing this lab, you will be able to analyze an organization's Windows NT 4 directory services environment to plan its migration to Windows 2000 Active Directory.

About This Lab

In this lab, you will analyze a medium-sized organization's Windows NT 4 directory services environment to plan its migration to Windows 2000 Active Directory.

Before You Begin

Before you begin this lab, you must be able to

• Identify the factors in an organization's environment that determine its migration strategy
• Indicate the reasons for using the domain upgrade method
• Indicate the reasons for using the domain restructure method
• Explain the steps involved in planning a domain upgrade
• Explain the steps involved in planning a domain restructure
• Explain the steps involved in planning the consolidation of resource domains into organizational units (OUs)

Exercise: Planning a Windows NT 4 Directory Services Migration to Windows 2000 Active Directory

In this exercise, you will analyze a medium-sized organization's Windows NT 4 directory services environment to plan its migration to Windows 2000 Active Directory. Review the scenario; then follow the instructions to plan the Windows NT 4 directory services migration to Windows 2000 Active Directory.

Scenario

Southwest Financial Services is an investment company with locations in Phoenix, Tucson, and Albuquerque. The company is planning to migrate from Windows NT 4 to Windows 2000. The current Windows NT 4 architecture is illustrated in Figure 7.9.

Figure 7.9 Southwest Financial Services Windows NT 4 architecture

Two areas of the business, stock investments and cash investments, are managed by separate IT management organizations. The stock investments area handles only stock investments, while the cash investments area handles only cash investments; the account managers in each area never exchange information. However, management and executive personnel from each area do work together on company reports and trend analysis. Because of the sensitive nature of investments, security is the top concern for Southwest Financial Services.

The infrastructure planners have recently completed the Active Directory implementation plan for the migration. The design provides Southwest Financial Services with the same level of security but reduces the number of domains in the domain structure. The proposed new design is illustrated in Figure 7.10.

Figure 7.10 Proposed Windows 2000 Active Directory architecture for Southwest Financial Services

The forest root domain is a dedicated domain in which no resources from either the stock or cash investment areas will be placed. Administrators from both IT management organizations will manage the forest root domain together. Both of the master domains are child domains of the root domain. The resource domains are consolidated into organizational units (OUs).

Exercise Questions

1. What migration method(s) will you use to migrate to Windows 2000 Active Directory?
   
   
   
2. List the steps you will take to plan the migration.
   
   
   

Answers