Chapter 19. Windows Server 2003 Administration

In This Chapter

• Defining the Administrative Model

• Examining Active Directory Site Administration

• Configuring Sites

• Examining Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Groups

• Creating Groups

• Handling User Administration

• Understanding User Profiles

• Managing Users with Local Security and Group Policies

• Managing Printers with Print Management Component

Administrators can administer a Windows Server 2003 infrastructure by learning only a few simple tasks and applying them at different levels and to different objects. The overall management of an environment is composed of administrative tasks that touch almost every aspect of the network, including user administration, server and workstation administration, and network administration. For example, in a single day an administrator might check for a successful server backup, reset a user's password, add users to or remove them from existing groups, or manage LAN and WAN hardware. Although each of these tasks can independently be very simple or difficult in nature, administrators should at least understand their portion of the overall enterprise network and understand how the different components that make up the network communicate and rely on one another.

This chapter focuses on the common Windows Server 2003 Active Directory (AD) user and group administrative tasks and touches on the management of Active Directory sites to optimize user access and replication performance.