Chapter 1 - The Assessment Stage

Abstract

This chapter summarizes various analyses and evaluations that take place as part of the due diligence for any implementation project, particularly for Windows Server 2003 Active Directory (AD). First, the impact of introducing an AD on the existing technical environment should be investigated. This requires an analysis of hardware and software requirements, any interoperability requirements for software and hardware that will continue to be in operation, and network requirements. In addition, once the analysis of the infrastructure components is complete, the current levels of service within the technical environment and the current network administration model should be reviewed. Second, the existing implementation of the network operating systems that are running on an organization's network should be examined. The existing domain model should be identified, the number and location of domain controllers on the network should be discovered, and the configuration details of all servers on the network should be gathered. Server types might include primary domain controllers, backup domain controllers, file servers, print servers, and Web servers. Third, the state of the existing domain name system is analyzed to determine what changes need to be made so that the AD is adequately supported.