Chapter 9 - Working with Group Policy in an Active Directory Environment

Abstract

Group Policy is essentially used to manage and control various features and components of the Windows Server 2003 network. Group Policy settings can be used to define a user's desktop environments, to specify security settings, and to configure and control application behavior. Group Policy can be used to automatically deploy software to users and computers. It is noted that group policies are also used to assign scripts and redirect folders. Policies can be applied to a site, a domain, an organizational unit (OU) or a local computer. It is important for network administrators to be familiar with how Group Policy works and how they can use it for more flexibility and control of network components. This chapter illustrates the basics of the Group Policy terminology and concepts. It introduces user and computer policies and Group Policy Objects (GPOs). The chapter discusses the scope and application order of policies and explains Group Policy integration in Active Directory (AD). Further, the chapter explores how to plan a Group Policy strategy and how to perform common Group Policy tasks.